







V 




w_ 

w&kL 






FAMILY PRAYER BOOK, 



FOR THE USE OP 



HEADS OF FAMILIES: 



DESIGNED MORE PARTICULARLY FOR 



AGED PERSONS. 



WITH AN 



INTRODUCTION, AND AN ESSAY ON FAMILY RELIGION. 
BY 

Rev. EMERSON DAVIS, 

PASTOR OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN 
WESTF1ELD, MASS. 



SPRINGFIELD : 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY 

WOOD & RUPP. 
1842 



3>/ 



$£" 



,33 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1842, 
By WOOD & RUPP, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



3 ? 



Springfield, Aug. 12, 1842. 
Rev. Mr. Davis, 

Dear Sir: — 

We are about publishing a Prayer 
Book designed for the use of Heads of Families, and shall print it in large 
type, in order to adapt it to aged persons. We should be happy to have you 
prepare an Introduction and an Essay on Family Religion, and perhaps an 
Address to the Aged. 

Please reply by next mail, and much oblige 

Your Ob't Serv'ts, 

WOOD & RUPP. 



Westfield, Aug. 14, 1842. 
Messrs. Wood & Rupp, 

Gent : — 

Your favor of the 12th inst. has 
been received. I am glad to learn that you are intending to publish a book 
of Prayer adapted to Heads of Families and Aged Persons; and shall very 
cheerfully comply with your request, as soon as circumstances will permit. 

E. DAVIS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Prayer is a duty enjoined by the dictates of nature, as 
well as by the word of God ; and we should regard it to be 
our privilege, as well as our duty. An unspeakable privi- 
lege it certainly is, to be permitted to ask the Creator of all 
things to supply our wants, to shield us from danger, and 
to prepare us for endless felicity. 

The question perhaps will be asked by some, on opening 
a prayer-book published by Congregationalists, and sanc- 
tioned by congregational ministers, whether our denomina- 
tion is verging towards Episcopacy ? If the use of written 
prayers, by here and there an individual in family devo- 
tion, or the reading of them for the sake of becoming fa- 
miliar with the best forms of expression, is proof of an 
Episcopal tendency, then it must be admitted, that Congre- 
gationalists have always verged towards Episcopacy. 

Our Puritan ancestors " did not dispute the lawfulness of 
set forms of prayer, provided a due liberty was allowed for 
prayers of their own composure." They demurred against 
the use of liturgies in public worship, but not against the 
use of Prayer books on all occasions. 

Prayer books have been published in England from time 
to time by the Dissenters. Rev. William Jay, in the preface 
1* 



VI INTRODUCTION. 

to his " Prayers for the use of Families," while he earnestly 
recommends the use of free extemporaneous prayer, says, 
" there are those who have only a slender degree of relig- 
ious knowledge," or " feel a bashfulness of temper, so that 
they cannot gain confidence enough to pray in the presence 
of their households." In such cases he recommends 
" forms in preference to neglect." 

In an anonymous Essay on prayer, published in England 
in 1760, it is said, " there are cases, wherein forms may not 
only be lawful, but have the preference." Bishop Wilkins 
calls them crutches, and says " there are some lame chris- 
tians that stand in need of them," and as another author 
expresses it, " some are so mean in their faculties ; have so 
small a stock of ideas, and these so confused ; have their 
minds so little opened by their knowledge and sense of di- 
vine things, and they move in so low a sphere in religion, 
that I doubt not a well composed form may be useful for a 
time." Those using written forms are advised to vary from 
them by additions, or omissions, as occasion may require, 
until they surmount the necessity of using them at all. 

There are two uses of prayer books in addition to the 
one to which I have already alluded, which furnish a suffi- 
cient reason for recommending them to the use of Congre- 
gationalists. 

1 . They will assist those Christians who need the assistance, 
in acquiring a dignified style of expression, and make them 
familiar with language proper to be used in public addresses 
to the Supreme Being. I know very well that the efficacy 
of prayer does not depend on the smoothness, or richness 



INTRODUCTION. vil 

of the style, nor on a well arranged collection of words ; 
but on the offering up of the desires of the heart to God 
for things agreeable to his will. He knows our desires be- 
fore they are expressed, and can understand a petition clothed 
in language wholly unintelligible to men. Nevertheless, it 
is the duty of every Christian to learn to pray in a manner 
intelligible and edifying to his fellow Christians. The voice 
of many devout disciples is never heard in the social prayer 
meeting, because they consider themselves unable to ad- 
dress the throne of grace so as to edify others. Family 
prayer is often neglected for the same reason, especially by 
those who become the subjects of grace after a family of 
children has grown up around them. 

Is it not the duty of every Christian to learn to pray ? It 
is certainly important to use becoming and appropriate 
words when we speak to God in behalf of others. If we 
use undignified expressions, we disgust the intelligent ; 
if we use learned and pompous words, we speak in a 
tongue unknown to the ignorant ; if we use quaint and fa- 
miliar language, the minds of those who hear are diverted 
from praying to criticising. It cannot be supposed that 
those who lead in prayer will edify and awaken in the souls 
of those who hear, the same desires which they express, un- 
less their language is plain, unostentatious, easily under- 
stood, and free from disagreeable peculiarities. Generally, 
those who would pray thus, must learn to pray. A person 
cannot ordinarily rise and address an assembly pertinently 
and effectively, unless he has learned to speak in public. I 
do not suppose that a person is inspired when he prays, any 



Vlll 



INTRODUCTION. 



more than when he preaches. The Spirit may indeed as- 
sist his infirmities, but the appropriateness of his language, 
and the propriety of his expressions, will depend on his ac- 
quaintance with the Scriptures, and the attention he has 
given to the written and extempore prayers of others. 

The disciples came to Christ on a certain occasion, and said 
to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disci- 
ples." Neither John, nor Jesus, gave his disciples a form to 
be used on all occasions, but they taught them how to pray. 

There is no evidence that the early Christians were con- 
fined to written forms of prayer. Justin Martyr says, " the 
minister prayed according to his ability." Tertullian says, 
" they prayed without a monitor, or without any other com- 
mon prayer book than their own hearts." While I object to 
the use of a liturgy, I would recommend to all Christians 
the reading of approved forms of prayer for the purpose of 
acquiring a dignified and appropriate style of expression. 

2. The other use of prayer books is for purposes of 
devotion. I do not mean to substitute the reading of them 
for extempore prayer ; but in addition to extempore prayer, 
or as a preparation for it, I would recommend the reading 
of a written prayer. Every Christian may advantageously 
use a prayer book in his closet for the same purpose that he 
uses a Hymn book, Baxter's Saints' Rest, or Doddridge's 
Rise and Progress. No pious person can sit down and 
read a book of well selected prayers, without having his 
pious feelings aroused, and without having a more fervent 
spirit of prayer kindled in his soul. Dr. Watts says, " Has 
not many a holy soul found its inward powers awakened and 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

excited to lively religion, by such assistances? May not 
many a penitential wish be excited under a sense of sin ? 
Many a pious aspiration of heart, many a joyful sound of 
praise, has undoubtedly owed its rise to the words and lan- 
guage of some well composed form." 

A prayer book, in the estimation of the writer, may be 
used with profit by every Christian. As I have already 
said, I would not, except in a few peculiar cases, recom- 
mend the reading of prayers as a substitute for extempore 
prayer ; yet I would recommend such a book to all in order 
to teach them how to pray, and to awaken devotional feel- 
ings preparatory to extempore prayer. 

In the compilation of this volume the publishers have 
had regard to the wants of aged people. Some, by reason 
of infirmity, find it difficult to follow a connected train of 
thought to the edification of others in family devotion — and 
many are unable to retire to a private chamber for secret 
prayer, because " the keepers of the house tremble ;" such 
will be assisted in praying, and meditating, and preparing 
for the scenes before them by the use of a prayer book. 

Such are the reasons which have induced the publishers 
to present this volume to the public. A part of the prayers 
are original, and a part selected. May those into whose 
hands this book shall fall, have in addition to the form, the 
spirit of prayer, or the going forth of the soul in strong de- 
sires for the objects mentioned in their petitions. Without 
this, all prayer is unavailing. 

E. DAVIS. 



AN ESSAY 



FAMILY RELIGION 



An attention to personal religion is the acknowledged 
duty of all men. Every individual is bound to worship 
God in secret as well as in public, and to maintain such a 
character as becomes the children of God. 

Upon every head of a family devolves the additional 
duty of maintaining the worship of God in his own house, 
He ought to resolve as Joshua did, " As for me and my 
house, we will serve the Lord." 

Family religion includes not only family prayer, but the 
reading of the Scriptures, and the giving of appropriate in- 
struction to children and other members of the household. 
Family prayer is the most important part of family religion ; 
if it be neglected, the other duties will be neglected also. 
This is the duty against the performance of which objec- 
tions are oftenest brought. In this Essay, therefore, my 
principal object will be to offer some reasons why every 
head of a family should worship God in their houses. 

1. There are many texts in which the duty is implied. 
It is said that it is not commanded ; be it so ; if the duty is 



Xll AN ESSAY ON 

clearly implied, it teaches us what the will of God is in re- 
lation to this matter, as distinctly as if it were expressly 
commanded. We are bound to do according to the will of 
God, and it matters not whether we learn his will from ex- 
press precepts, or by inference from other subjects. 

In Gen. 18:19, God says of Abraham, "I know him, 
that he will command his household after him, and they shall 
keep the way of the Lord." It is here said that Abraham's 
religion would not be confined to himself. It would be felt 
in his family. It was not: necessary to command Abraham 
to pray in his family, or to do what he could to promote 
family religion ; he would do it as a matter of course. Is 
it not equally true that all, who are the children of Abra- 
ham, will in this respect imitate the father of the faithful? 

The duty of family prayer is also inferred from the morn- 
ing and evening sacrifices under the ceremonial law. Aaron 
was directed to burn incense every morning, and again every 
evening, on an altar made for that purpose. It appears 
from Luke 1 : 9, 10, that this kind of offering was accom- 
panied by prayer on the part of the people. If it was nec- 
essary that the families of Israel should maintain religious 
worship morning and evening " throughout their genera- 
tions," it is certainly necessary for all others. 

Joshua said, " As for me and my house, we will serve the 
Lord." This resolution was approved by God, and recor- 
ded for our instruction and admonition. Does not God 
recommend an attention to family religion by saying of Job, 
that " he offered sacrifices for all his children," and that 
" he did it continually ?" 



FAMILY RELIGION. Xlll 

In 2 Sam. 6 : 20. we are told that David after having 
spent a day in the public worship of God, went home at 
evening to bless his household. Does not this mean, that 
he went home to perform religious services in his family ? 
He did not make his attendance on public worship an ex- 
cuse for neglecting family religion. What shall be said of 
the example of Daniel, who prayed in his house with his 
windows open toward Jerusalem ? Was it secret prayer or 
was the household present? In Ps. 118 : 15, it is written, 
" the voice of joy and salvation is in the tabernacles of the 
righteous," that is, when you go to the tabernacle or house 
of a righteous person you will not hear the voice of carnal 
mirth, nor profanity, but the voice of rejoicing and prayer. 
In Jer. 10 : 25, it is said, God " will pour out his fury upon 
the heathen and upon the families that call not upon his 
name." If it be said that families here means nations, I 
answer, nations are made up families, and a family is a na- 
tion in miniature. If it is God's will that nations call upon 
him, it is as clearly his will that families call upon him. 

In Acts 10 : 2, we are informed that Cornelius was a de- 
vout man, one that feared God with all his house, and 
prayed to God always. In the 30th verse it is said, " an an- 
gel stood by him as he was praying in his house." From 
the account given of Cornelius, it is very evident that he 
had religious services in his house, — that he prayed with his 
family. 

From these and similar portions of scripture, 1 infer that 
it is the will of God that heads of families should maintain 
the worship of God in their houses. The practice of the 
2 



XIV AN ESSAY ON 

primitive saints is recorded with approbation, and this cir- 
cumstance should satisfy the candid reader of the Bible that 
God expects him to pray in his family, and to train his 
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 

2. The beneficial effects that are produced upon a family 
by an attention to family religion, proves that it is a duty. 
Where family prayer is attended by the head of the family 
at fixed hours, it prevents much disorder that would other- 
wise exist. It affords a reason for requiring each member 
of the family to be at home at a seasonable hour, and pre- 
vents wild and giddy youth from annoying your peace and 
corrupting your children by being often at your houses, and 
remaining to an unseasonable hour. Your children will be 
preserved from many temptations, and be induced to form 
regular habits of retiring and rising, which are as conducive 
to health as to good morals. 

It has been often observed, that if there be in a neighbor- 
hood a prayerless family, it will be the place where young 
persons and adults will assemble to spend an evening in dis- 
coursing upon the marvelous, in vilifying the characters of 
the absent, or in amusements that detract from the dignity 
of rational beings. Let God be worshipped in every house, 
and much of this iniquity will be driven away. Let God's 
name be invoked morning and evening in a gambling house, 
or in a house of riot and debauchery, and these vices will 
either be abandoned, or those who practice them will retire 
to another place. If children see their parents devoutly 
calling upon God morning and evening, confessing their 
sins, and petitioning for favors for themselves and others. 



■ 



FAMILY RELIGION. XV 

there is much more reason to hope their minds will be 
seriously impressed, than there would be, if they were train- 
ed in a prayerless family. A pious man received a letter 
from one who had been his apprentice, in which he gave 
the following testimony respecting the utility of family 
prayer : " Never shall I be able sufficiently to thank you for 
the precious privilege with which you indulged me in your 
family devotions. Eternity will be too short to praise God 
for what I there learned. I was there convinced of my 
wretched state as a sinner ; it was there I first knew the 
way of salvation, and there that I first experienced the 
preciousness of Christ in me the hope of glory." 

" Most households are made up of a majority of young 
persons, and it is rare to find a family without a child or 
youth. In the morning of life, the mind receives a direction 
even on moral and religious subjects, which is seldom lost ; 
hence it is of great importance that the first impressions be 
favorable to a life of piety." What means can be used 
that will affect the young mind so certainly and so favorably 
as family prayer ? What scene so interesting as that of a 
family bowing the knee morning and evening to suppli- 
cate the blessing of God ? It is a sight upon which the 
God of families looks down with delight ; it is a sight at 
which angels rejoice ; and it may be, that it affords a new 
thrill of rapture to some departed and sainted relative. 
The wicked scoffer may look upon such a scene with con- 
tempt, and the cold-hearted caviler may ask " what profit 
shall we have if we pray unto him," but the records of 
eternity will show, that family prayer has a powerful though 



XVI AN ESSAY ON 

silent, and perhaps slow influence upon many minds. It 
will impart a moral grandeur and dignity to any community 
to have a family altar erected in every dwelling, around 
which God is worshiped morning and evening. Can there 
be any doubt whether it is the will of God that men should 
pray daily with their families ? Is it not plain that he ap- 
proves, and requires a service that he has thus designedly 
blest? 

3. The effect of family prayer with its kindred influences 
in propagating piety, proves that it is a duty. Families are 
little communities established by God for the purpose of 
propagating piety. By collecting all the inhabitants of the 
earth into little groups, and subjecting them to the dominion 
of a head, God has provided in the best possible manner 
for the religious and moral training of the people. No so- 
cieties are so important as families, the head of which 
ought to act as a priest of the little community in offering 
with and for them morning and evening sacrifice. Religion 
declines in the church, if it declines in the family. " The 
best public institutions cannot supersede the necessity of 
domestic piety." 

It is said that in the State of New Hampshire there de- 
scended in the course of 80 years from one family in which 
God was worshiped, 230 professors of religion. In a small 
church consisting of 15 members, 13 of them were from 
one family, the head of which like Joshua had said, " as for 
me and my house, we will serve the Lord." In another 
church consisting of 49 members, 37 of them were the 
children of those in whose house God was worshiped. If 






FAMILY RELIGION. XV11 

the history of families should be traced, we should un- 
doubtedly find a mass of evidence proving the influence 
of family prayer in propagating piety from one generation to 
another, and in diffusing it from one country to another. I 
would not advise parents to provide wealth for their chid- 
ren ; but I would urge upon all the supreme importance of 
leaving them an example of piety, and the recollection of 
ten thousand prayers offered in their behalf at the family 
altar. 

We have many delightful instances of family piety flowing 
clown through successive generations. Missionaries from 
the family of Mayhew through five successive generations, 
labored in Martha's Vineyard, and were all held in high 
esteem, as men of distinguished talents and piety. The 
family of John Rogers the Martyr is still more remarkable, 
and that of President Edwards equally so. It is true many 
profligate men and women have descended from pious fami- 
lies, but the number is comparatively small. It is an argu- 
ment in favor of family religion, that nearly all the people 
in the land distinguished for their moral worth, and exert- 
ing the best influence, were trained in pious families. In 
this way God is teaching us that he approves of family 
prayer. 

Families are not so much what the church makes them, 
as the church and 'state are what families make them. 
Magistrates and ministers of religion were once children in 
the family, and what they are as magistrates and ministers, 
was determined for the most part by the instruction they then 
received. It is a mistake to suppose that the instruction re- 
2* 



XV111 AN ESSAY ON 

ceived in the house of God is of itself sufficient for the 
training of children in the nurture and admonition of the 
Lord. " Every parent should bring his children to the 
house of God, that they may enjoy its ordinances, but the 
seed lodged in the tender mind by the minister at the 
sanctuary must be watered and nurtured at home." 

If no other reason could be assigned for family prayer 
and instruction except its influence in propagating piety 
from generation to generation, we should be sure that it is 
the will of God that it should be maintained. 

4. The influence which the maintenance of family re- 
ligion produces upon the head of a family, proves it to be a 
duty. The instructions given, the adorations, the confes- 
sions, and the thanksgivings, are as useful to the head of 
the family, as to the members of which it is composed. 
Coming to the family altar morning and evening helps to 
keep alive in the soul the flame of devotion ; it does some- 
thing towards subduing an inordinate love of the world ; 
and inclines to circumspection. No man, who prays in his 
family habitually and conscientiously, can indulge in sin as 
freely as he otherwise would. 

What a comfort it must be to a parent sitting by the 
death-bed of a member of his family, to recollect that he 
has often prayed with and for the dying, and done what he 
could to lead him to Christ ! If the reader of this Essay is 
a parent, and would bid his family farewell with peace and 
joy, let him maintain the worship of God among them ; let 
him so pray and teach and exhort, that in the hour of sepa- 



FAMILY RELIGION. XIX 

ration, he can call God and his children to witness, that he 
has discharged his duty in some such manner as required. 

How painful must it be for a prayerless parent to witness 
the agonies of a dying child, to see him agitated, and it 
may be convulsed through fear of an approaching hell. 

Such are some of the reasons, why prayer ought to be 
offered morning and evening in every family. Many neg- 
lect this duty altogether ; others pray once a day, morning 
or evening, as is most convenient, and others pray only 
once a week. Some excuse themselves because they are 
diffident, ignorant, or not eloquent. If such had a sense 
of their own wants, or of the spiritual necessities of their 
families, these excuses would vanish. Love to the souls of 
their friends would cast out fear, and the reading of the 
Bible, or a prayer book would supply them with language, 
and a pressing sense of need, would make them eloquent. 

But what shall be said of those who can find time to 
pray only once a day, or once a week ? I would ask such 
if they do not spend more time every day in idle talk, or 
in doing nothing, than would ordinarily be consumed in 
maintaining regular family devotion. Who gives you your 
time, and for what purpose ? Are you not commanded to 
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ? 

Some excuse themselves from the performance of this 
duty, on the ground that they are not professors of religion, 
and that the prayers of the wicked are an abomination in 
the sight of the Lord. It is not the act of praying that is 
an abomination, but praying with a wicked heart ; for the 
same reason the plowing of the wicked is sin, and yet no 



XX AN ESSAY ON FAMILY RELIGION. 

one excuses himself from tilling his land for fear of commit- 
ting an abomination. It is the duty of every man to pray 
in his family ; if his heart is not right, the fault is his own ; 
he should repent at once, and lift up holy hands without 
wrath or doubting. There can be no valid excuse for neg- 
lecting any duty, which it is the will of God we should 

perform. 

E. DAVIS. 



EXTRACT 



FROM 



ORTON'S DISCOURSE TO THE AGED. 



Let me exhort the aged men and women, as Paul com- 
mands Titus to do, " that they be sober, grave, temperate, 
sound in faith, in charity, in patience ; that they be in be- 
haviour as becometh godliness, and teachers of good things." 
Let me entreat you to proceed in the ways of righteousness, 
and not be weary of well doing. Remember the dignity of 
your hoary head, and be careful never to lose or lessen it. 

.V. M* JA. M* At* *Y- •&£+ 

"Jy* *7v* *7V* *}*" w "/v* w 

Polycarp, a primitive bishop, and a disciple of St. John, 
being summoned before a heathen magistrate, and com- 
manded to abjure Christ, made this noble reply : " Four- 
score and five years I have been serving Christ, and he 
hath never done me the least wrong ; how then shall I 
blaspheme my King and Saviour ?" Let your experience of 
the power and comforts of religion, let such an example of 
steady piety, let the near approach of death, and your hopes 
of glory, all join to make you very careful not to lose the 
things that ye have wrought, and sully the honor to which you 
have a claim. Labor after greater patience and contentment, 



XXU TO THE AGED. 

greater mortification to the world which you are soon to 
leave, and to have your conversation habitually in heaven. 
Endeavor to be doing all the good you can, especially by 
bearing testimony to the pleasure and peace that are to be 
found in the ways of righteousness. Aged Christians are 
apt to be discouraged because they think they can do little 
for God. But, my friends, do the best you can, out of re- 
gard to the Master you serve, who doth not cast off his 
aged servants, nor despise their feeble attempts to promote 
his interests ; and who has promised that " to old age 
and hoar hairs he will bear and carry and deliver you." 
Do this out of regard to your descendants, to those whom 
you leave behind, and to the support of religion. Endeavor, 
according to the language of the Psalmist, " to bring forth 
fruit even to old age, that you may flourish in the courts of the 
Lord ;" that it may be said of you, as of the church at Thya- 
tira, that your last ivorksare more and better than the first. 
Then will you shine in the double lustre of age and holiness, 
be the ornaments of religion, and " come to your grave in a 
full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in its season." 



FAMILY PRAYERS. 



FAMILY PRAYERS. 



SUNDAY MORNING. 

O thou Most High ! Thine eyes are in every place, 
beholding the evil and the good ; thou seest every 
secret thing ; thou searchest the hearts, and triest 
the reins of the children of men. We would come 
into thy presence with reverence and deep humility, 
for it becomes us to lie ir! the dust, and, putting our 
hands upon our mouths, to cry, unclean, unclean; 
God be merciful to us sinners. 

We acknowledge ourselves to be sinners. Our 
iniquities are great and numberless ; but with a bro- 
ken heart and contrite spirit, we pray to be delivered 
from them, and to be led in the way everlasting. 
We are ruined by sin ; we have no merit in our- 
selves, and can offer no excuse for our transgressions ; 
but thou art rich in mercy. The blood of Jesus 
Christ cleansest from all sin. On the morning of 
this holy Sabbath, of this day consecrated to the 
solemn duties of religion, we would approach the 
mercy seat, and beseech thee, O Lord, that thou 
wilt blot out our iniquities and forgive our sins. 
3 



26 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

Wilt thou look upon the face of thine anointed, and 
for his sake be merciful unto us. Create in us clean 
hearts, and renew a right spirit within us. Enlight- 
en our minds that we may understand thy word ; 
give us tender and wakeful consciences, that we may 
feel the force of truth, and warm our hearts by a 
sense of thy presence, and then we shall no longer 
live at a cold and dying rate. 

May we remember the Sabbath day to keep it 
holy ; may we keep it in commemoration of that 
day in which our Saviour arose from the dead, hav- 
ing finished the work of redemption. We pray that 
our souls may rise this day from drowsiness and sloth 
to watchfulness and diligence in thy service. Be 
thou with us in the public, private, and social duties 
of this sacred day ; may we so hear thy word, so 
search the scriptures, so commune with our hearts, 
and so call upon thy name, that our souls shall derive 
an eternal benefit. 

Thou, Lord, knowest the hearts of each member 
of this family. Bless us who are parents, and give 
us wisdom, and faith, and patience, that we may dis- 
charge our duty to our children with an eye single to 
thy glory. We beseech thee to have mercy upon 
the children — may they all be interested in the great 
salvation ; convince them all of sin, and lead them 
to the Saviour, who has said " Suffer little children 
to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is 
the kingdom of heaven." 

We render thee thanks, most merciful God, for the 
favors thou hast conferred upon us. We thank thee 



SUNDAY MORNING. 27 

for creating and preserving us ; for the kind care 
thou hast taken of us ; thou hast fed and clothed us ; 
and what is more, thou has provided for us the bread 
of life — that bread which came down out of heaven, 
of which if a man eat he shall hunger no more. In 
view of thy great mercy to us, we desire to serve 
thee better. We cannot repay thee for the least of 
thy mercies ; but we would show our gratitude by 
being* more obedient, more circumspect, and more 
devoted to thy service. 

We would not confine our requests to ourselves. 
We would remember the wants of others. Regard 
those who are sick, and restore them to health, or 
prepare them to die in peace ; have compassion upon 
the afflicted, whether by the death of friends, by 
sickness, by loss of property, by trials, or by disap- 
pointments ; — let their afflictions do them good ; 
may they soon be heard to say, it is good for us that 
we have been afflicted. 

Meet with all those who may assemble this day for 
thy worship. Let those who preach the gospel have 
an unction from the Holy One ; may thy Spirit ac- 
company the truths to the hearts of all who hear, 
and may thy children be comforted and quickened, 
and sinners converted from the error of their ways. 
May the Gospel soon be published to every creature. 
Wilt thou hear us for the sake of Jesus Christ, to 
whom with the Father and Spirit be endless praises. 
Amen, 



28 FAMILY PRAYERS. 



SUNDAY EVENING. 

O Lord, our God, wilt thou quicken our souls to 
call upon thy name ; pour upon us the spirit of grace 
and supplication ; and in our enlivened and enlarged 
experience, may we know that thou art not only the 
gracious rewarder, but the Almighty helper of them 
that diligently seek thee. 

For such, O God, is the ignorance of our minds, 
and the unbelief of our hearts, that without thee 
we can do nothing. But the preparation of the 
heart, and the answer of the tongue are from thee ; 
thy Spirit helps our infirmities ; thy grace is sufficient 
for us. Unite our hearts to fear thy name ; enable 
us to come even to thy mercy seat ; and may our fel- 
lowship be with the God of love. 

May we approach thee, not as the Eternal Jeho- 
vah, but as our Father and our Friend, our exceed- 
ing joy, the strength of our heart, and our portion 
for ever. May we not only exercise that faith, by 
which we understand the worlds were made by the 
word of God ; may we not only believe in thee as 
the God of nature and providence, but in Jesus 
Christ, whom thou hast sent to put away sin by the 
sacrifice of himself. 

O Lord, we thank thee that we have been per- 
mitted this day to hear the gospel preached. Thou 
knowest the manner in which we have received it. 
We have reason to fear that many have received it 
in vain ; that their hearing has only added to their 



SUNDAY EVENING. 29 

guilt ; and that their sabbaths have been only em- 
ployed in treasuring up wrath against the day of 
wrath. O, what would the spirits in prison give for 
one of our opportunities, one of our offers of mercy. 
How many now sitting in darkness, and in the re- 
gions of the shadow of death, would exult at the 
entrance of that light, against which we shut our 
eyes, or which we behold with indifference. 

Awaken, O Lord, in our consciences, the inquiry, 
how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? 
May we believe thy word which has been preached 
to us to-day ; and keep in memory what we have 
heard, lest we believe in vain. May we hide thy word 
in our hearts, that we may not sin against thee ; and 
may the truth, as it is in Jesus, illuminate in us all 
that is dark, sanctify in us all that is unholy, establish 
all that is wavering, comfort all that is wretched, and 
accomplish in us all thy good pleasure, that the name 
of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in us, and 
that we may be glorified in Him. 

We sometimes hope thou hast commenced a good 
work in us ; we hope we have begun to see the evil 
of sin, to hunger and thirst after righteousness ; that 
we are asking the way to Zion, with our faces thith- 
erward ; and are praying, remember me, O Lord, 
with the favor thou bearest unto thy people. 

Command and enable us to go forward. Take us 
by the hand, and lead us on from strength to strength. 
Let the dawn break into the perfect day : and the 
blade become the full corn in the ear. 

We live in a world of changes, but thou art the 
3* 



30 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

same : may we know that thou hast made with us 
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and 
sure. We are pressing through a vale of tears ; but 
we bless thee for the opening glory at the end. 
Enable us to realize, as our own, a better, even a 
heavenly country. Prepare us for every part of our 
pilgrimage ; uphold our goings in thy word ; and let 
no iniquity have dominion over us. 

We would sympathize with those that are in dis- 
tress. Give to them that mourn in Zion, beauty for 
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment 
of praise for the spirit of heaviness. 

Bless all the institutions which are established to 
diffuse the Scriptures, and to send forth missionaries. 
Remember those who have gone forth to preach 
among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
Preserve their health, their morals, their spirituality, 
their zeal ; let them be examples of all they teach ; 
and be thou a little sanctuary to them among the 
heathen. May all the events that take place in the 
nations of the earth, subserve the spread of the 
Redeemer's empire ; and may we exult in the period, 
when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of 
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. 

And to God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost, 
be praises for ever and ever. Amen. 



MONDAY MORNING. 31 



MONDAY MORNING. 



The heavens declare thy glory, O God, and the 
firmament showeth thy handy work. Day unto day 
uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth know- 
ledge ; and there is no speech nor language, where 
their voice is not heard. We behold displays of thy 
wisdom, power and goodness in all thy works, from 
the largest to the least. 

But thou hast magnified thy word above all thy 
name ; and we can never be sufficiently thankful for 
the revelation of thy will in the Scriptures of truth. 
We bless thee that this sacred volume has been pre- 
served, and translated, and published, and multiplied, 
so that we all have it in our possession, and can read 
in our own tongue the wonderful works of God. 
Here we see not only thy greatness, but thy grace ; 
and not only thy pity, but thy rectitude ; we see 
mercy and truth meeting together, righteousness and 
peace embracing each other. Here thou hast shined 
in our hearts, to give us the knowledge of thy glory 
in the face of Jesus Christ. 

For in Him thou hast reconciled the world unto 
thyself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. 
Thou hast made him to be sin for us, who knew no 
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God 
in Him. And thou hast raised Him from the dead, 
and given him glory, that our faith and hope may be 
in God. At the view of this infinite kindness, may 
we resign all our unworthy and suspicious thoughts ; 



32 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and placing our confidence in thee, return and say- 
Lord, I am thine, save me. Look thou upon me, 
and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto 
those that love thy name. 

We ask not to be enrolled among the rich and the 
great of this world, but to be numbered with those 
who are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heaven- 
ly places in Christ. The graves are ready for us ; 
and we shall soon be in a state, that will render it a 
matter of indifference to us whether we have filled a 
cottage or a palace — but it will be eternally impor- 
tant to us, that we have been justified by thy grace, 
and sanctified by thy Spirit, and adopted into thy 
family. May we, therefore, be wise unto salvation : 
and make it our present, our supreme, our perse- 
vering concern, to obtain those blessings which are 
spiritual in their nature ; eternal in their continuance ; 
satisfying in their possession ; and which unerringly 
indicate that we are the friends of God. 

Preserve us from a false estimate of the whole of 
our character, or any part of it. May we regard our 
principles as well as our conduct ; our motives as 
well as our actions. May we never mistake the ex- 
citement of our passions for the renewing of the 
Holy Ghost. May we never judge of our religion 
by occasional impressions and impulses ; but by our 
constant and prevailing disposition. May our heart 
be right with God, and our life such as becometh the 
gospel. 

May we maintain a supreme regard to another and 
a better world, and feel and confess ourselves to be 






™ 



MONDAY EVENING. 33 

only strangers and pilgrims in this. How often by 
bodily infirmities and pains, by relative afflictions, and 
by dissatisfactions growing out of every enjoyment 
— how often have we been taught that this is not 
our rest. Afford us, we pray thee, all the assistance 
we need while passing through the scenes of life. 
Give us, in large abundance, the supply of the spirit 
of Jesus Christ, that we may be prepared for every 
duty : that we may love thee for all our mercies ; 
that we may submit to thee in every trial. May 
we trust thee when we walk in darkness, and have 
no light ; and amidst all the changes of the present, 
and the uncertainties of the future, may our minds 
be kept in perfect peace, being stayed upon God. 

Hast thou not made with us an everlasting cove- 
nant, ordered in all things and sure ? The very hairs 
of our head — are they not all numbered ? Are not 
all thy ways mercy and truth? Lord, we believe, 
help thou our unbelief. And now unto Him that is 
able to keep us from falling, and to present us fault- 
less before the presence of His glory with exceeding 
joy : to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and 
majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. 
Amen. 



MONDAY EVENING. 

O thou, whose name alone is Jehovah. Thou 
art the Most High over all the earth; and thou 
hast set thy glory above the heavens. All thy works 



34 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints bless thee. 
Thou art our father's God, and we will exalt thee ; 
thou art our own God, and early will we seek thee, 
for in thy favor is life. 

Open thou our lips, and our mouth shall show 
forth thy praise. Thou hast made us, and not we 
ourselves. Thine eye did see our substance, yet 
being imperfect, and in thy book all our members 
were written, which in continuance were fashioned, 
when as yet there were none of them. Thou hast 
taught us more than the beasts of the field, and 
made us wiser than the fowls of the air. There is 
a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty 
giveth him understanding. Thy providence has 
watched over us from the womb, supplied all our 
wants, arranged all our affairs, and determined the 
bounds of our habitation. 

And, O, what reason have we to exclaim, the 
lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, yea, we 
have a goodly heritage. We live in a land of vision. 
How superior are our advantages to those of thine 
ancient people, the Jews. The sun of righteous- 
ness, which was below the horizon to them, has 
risen upon us with healing in his wings ; and we are 
all the children of the day. Let us not, therefore, 
sleep, as do others ; but while we have the light, 
may we walk in the light, lest darkness come upon 
us. 

May we ever be impressed with the conviction 
that where much is given, much will be required : 
and that our greatest danger results from our dis- 






MONDAY EVENING. 6b 

tinguishing advantages — our sabbaths ; our sanctua- 
ries ; the Scriptures of truth ; the preaching of the 
gospel; and all the other means of grace. 

What more could have been done for us than thou 
hast done ? and yet how little fruit have we brought 
forth. We deserve to be cut down as cumberers of 
the ground, and cast into the fire. Yet, O Lord, 
spare us, for the sake of thy Son, our Saviour ; and 
lengthen out our day of grace. Convince us of sin, 
of righteousness, and of a judgment to come. May 
we see our danger, and our refuge too, and be led to 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ; and may we find 
him to be precious to our souls, the chiefest among 
ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely. 

May we be made the partakers of Christ, and not 
only of his righteousness, but of his spirit : that 
we may be, not only pardoned, but renewed ; and 
not only have a title to heaven, but a meetness for 
it. No longer alienated from the life of God, may 
our meditations of thee be sweet, and may we draw 
near to thee as to our exceeding joy. May we con- 
fide in thy promises, and rely on thy constant pro- 
tection and care. May we be devoted to thy service, 
and find it perfect freedom. May we delight our- 
selves in thy commandments, and forget not thy 
word, that we may not sin against thee. 

With affections weaned from the world, and with 
evidences bright for heaven, all the days of our ap- 
pointed time may we wait till our change comes : 
may we die, supported by the consolations of the 
gospel, and surrounded with the glory of God ; and 



36 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

have an entrance ministered unto us abundantly, into 
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour. 

Prepare us for our passage, as well as for our end. 
While we are here, may we fulfil the duties and bear 
with firmness, the trials of our respective stations ; 
may we glorify our Father, who is in heaven ; and 
serve our generation according to his will. 

Continue thy goodness to us as a family. Adapt 
thy mercies to each of our wants. May those of us 
who hope we have passed from death unto life, walk 
humbly with God and grow in grace, and may those 
who are still impenitent, be convinced of sin and be- 
come the devoted servants of Christ. Remember 
our absent friends. Let thy ministers enjoy thy pre- 
sence ; and thy churches be filled with thy glory. 
Let this nation be under thy care, and ever prove the 
seat of learning and science ; of civil and religious 
freedom ; of social blessedness ; and of gospel privi- 
leges ; and be the source of usefulness to the ends of 
the earth. 

May Ethiopia stretch forth her hands unto God. 
And may all nations whom thou hast made, come 
and worship before thee. For thine, O God, is the 
power ; and thine shall be the glory, through our 
Lord and Saviour. Amen. 



TUESDAY MORNING. 37 



TUESDAY MORNING. 

O Lord God of hosts, hear our prayer; give ear, 
O God of Jacob ; behold, O God, our shield, and 
look upon the face of thine Anointed. 

It is in his dear and all-prevailing name we come. 
We have nothing of our own to plead ; no works, no 
worthiness, no promises. We have all, like sheep, 
gone astray. We have been transgressors from the 
womb. We have knowingly opposed thine author- 
ity, and abused thy goodness. We have been un- 
grateful under thy indulgences ; incorrigible under 
thy rebukes ; and have misiinproved our religious 
advantages. We stand before thee condemned 
by our own consciences, as well as by thy word. 
Yet, in the way of thine appointment, thou art 
waiting to be gracious ; and hast said, that whatso- 
ever we ask, believing in his name, Ave shall receive. 
Through Him, display thyself, in our experience, 
as a God, pardoning iniquity, and subduing it. Jus- 
tify us freely from all sin ; and sanctify us wholly, 
body, soul, and spirit. May we be thy workmanship, 
created in Christ Jesus, and prepared unto every 
good work. We groan within ourselves, longing, 
not only for deliverance from the wrath to come, but 
from the sin that dwelleth in us : and praying, not 
only for an interest in thy favor, but a growing like- 
ness to thy image. 

We bless thee for all that is past. Unless the 
Lord had been our help, our souls had almost dwelt 
4 



38 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

in silence : but when we said, my foot slippeth, thy 
mercy, Lord, held us up. But we are still in the 
body, and in the wilderness ; we need thine aid as 
much as ever ; we have a growing sense of our ig- 
norance, weakness, and danger ; O, withdraw not 
thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from us. 
Whether we are called to do thy will, or to bear it, 
may we feel that our help is in the name of the 
Lord, who made heaven and earth. If our course 
conducts us through rough and trying scenes, say to 
us, thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy 
days, so shall thy strength be. In view of our en- 
counter with our spiritual foes, clothe us with the 
whole armor of God ; teach our hands to war, and 
our fingers to fight ; and in the heat of the action 
tell our hearts, that we shall be more than conquer- 
ors, through him that loved us. 

And may we be concerned that the blessings we 
ask for ourselves, may be imparted toothers. Teach 
us to love our neighbor as ourselves ; and may we 
often examine our conditions in life, our offices, our 
talents, and our opportunities, to see how we may be 
serviceable in our day and generation. 

We bless thee for the light and comforts of this 
morning. Thou didst watch around our bed in the 
defenceless hours of sleep ; help us to serve thee 
this day with all our powers. May we feel that thou 
God seest us both when we go out and when we 
come in. Protect us from dangers seen and unseen, 
and bring us to the close of the day laden with the 
rich experience of thy kindness and mercy. 



TUESDAY EVENING. 39 

Comfort those that mourn in Zion. Let all the 
afflicted find thee a very present, and an all-sufficient 
help in the day of trouble. Provide for the poor and 
needy. Guide those that need instruction ; and may 
integrity and uprightness preserve them while they 
wait upon thee. 

Sanctify and continue to us, and to our latest 
posterity after us, all our national blessings, civil 
and religious ; and may our country, by its institu- 
tions, character, and usefulness, be a praise in the 
whole earth. 

These are great blessings for such sinful creatures 
as we are, to ask ; but thou hast given us a name to 
plead, which is above every name. Behold not 
our guilt, but that blood which cleanseth from all sin ; 
not our unworthiness, but that righteousness with 
which thou art well pleased. And accept us in the 
beloved. Our Father, &c. Amen. 



TUESDAY EVENING. 

O God, we are thine, and thee we are bound to 
worship. We grieve to think how many there are 
who cast off fear, and restrain prayer before thee. 
But, whatever be the determination of others, our 
purpose, by thy grace, is taken ; and as for us and 
our house, we will serve the Lord. 

We would not live a day, or an hour, without 
thee in the world, careless of thy favor, or regard- 



40 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

less of thy glory. Impress us, individually and deep- 
ly, with a sense of thy omniscience ; that thou art 
about our path, and our lying down, and acquainted 
with all our ways. Especially may we feel it, when 
we enter thy more immediate presence, and engage 
in the exercises of devotion. Then may we remem- 
ber that thine eyes are upon us ; that thou requirest 
truth in the inward parts ; and that nothing can 
screen, even our motives and principles, from thy 
penetration. 

May we every moment feel, how necessary it is to 
be more intimate with Him who came, not only that 
we might have life, but that we might have it more 
abundantly ; whose grace is sufficient for us : whose 
spirit helps our infirmities, and can strengthen in us 
the things that remain, that are ready to perish. 

We bless thee for an Advocate with the Father ; 
for a propitiation of infinite value ; for a fullness that 
filleth all in all. In Him, believing, may we rejoice 
with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. And may 
we know how to obtain relief for a burdened con- 
science, without feeling reconciled to our imperfec- 
tions. May we abhor the thought of turning the 
grace of our God into lasciviousness, or sinning, that 
grace may abound. Because we are not under the 
law, but under grace, may we reckon ourselves to 
be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through 
Jesus Christ our Lord ; by thy mercies, presenting 
our bodies a living sacrifice, and asking, What shall 
I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards 
me ? Through sanctification of the Spirit, and belief 



■ 



TUESDAY EVENING. 41 

of the truth, may our affections be set on things that 
are above, and may this be the growing desire of our 
souls, O that our feet were directed to keep thy 
precepts. 

We would not seek great things for ourselves ; but 
be content with such things as we have. Deliver 
us, O Lord, from the love of money, which is the 
root of all evil. May we value our substance, not as 
the medium of pride and luxury, but as affording us 
the means of support and usefulness ; and may we 
guide our affairs with discretion, that we may owe 
no man any thing, and be able to give to him that 
needeth. Establish in us the golden rule ; may we 
love our neighbor as ourselves ; and feel it not only 
our duty, but our pleasure, as we have opportunity, 
to do good unto all men ; especially unto them that 
are of the household of faith. 

Bless all the churches of the faithful. Thou hast 
given them rest ; may they walk in the fear of the 
Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and 
be edified and multiplied. Remember those in this 
country, who are destitute of the means of grace 
which we enjoy. Let not thy children be like sheep 
having no shepherd ; let all the churches be suppli- 
ed with faithful pastors, who shall feed them with 
the word of life. And may those who neglect the 
great salvation, go up to the courts of the Lord, and 
become the followers of Jesus Christ. 

Display thy power and thy glory in the sanctuary. 
Be with thy servants, who show unto men the way 
of salvation. Make them wise to win souls ; may 
4* 



42 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

they speak the things only that become sound doc- 
trine ; may they never expect success, as the result 
of their eloquence and reasonings, but from the ex- 
cellency that is of God. 

May our highly favored country be safe and flour- 
ishing, under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Regard our friends and relations. Those that are 
absent from us, we commend to the care and direc- 
tion of an ever-present God. Let those that know 
thee not, be made wise unto salvation ; let not 
those who are endeared by so many ties, be sepa- 
rated from us forever — How can we endure to see 
the destruction of our kindred ? 

Keep us in all places and circumstances. Hide 
us this night in the secret of thy pavilion, and in the 
morning encompass us with songs of deliverance. 

And now, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who 
only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be his glori- 
ous name forever : and let the whole earth be filled 
with his glory. Amen and Amen. 



WEDNESDAY MORNING. 

O thou, before whom angels bow and archangels 
veil their faces ! Wilt thou assist us to call upon thy 
name this morning, and may we do it with pure 
hearts, fervently. May the words of our mouths and 
the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy 
sight, for thou art our strength, and our Redeemer. 



WEDNESDAY MORNING. 43 

We adore thee as our Creator, Preserver, and boun- 
tiful and unwearied Benefactor ; and we can say 
with thy servant of old, we laid us down and slept ; 
and we awoke for the Lord sustained us. And grat- 
itude constrains us to say, Our voice shalt thou hear 
in the morning, O Lord ; in the morning will we di- 
rect our prayer unto thee, and will look up. 

We are unworthy, O Lord, to come into thy pre- 
sence, for we have sinned against thee with a high 
hand, and an outstretched arm : we have wandered 
away from thee, and have loved to wander ; but we 
would take words and return unto the Lord, and 
pray that thou wouldst hear us for the sake of the 
blessed Redeemer. May we have a saving interest 
in Christ, whose blood cleanseth from all sin, and 
know him, whom to know aright is life eternal. We 
beseech thee to produce in us that spirituality of 
mind which will render our service acceptable to 
thee, and profitable to ourselves ; and let us not 
mock thee with solemn words upon a thoughtless 
tongue. 

We thank thee for the mercies of the past night : 
for the refreshing repose we have enjoyed, and that 
our eyes have been permitted to behold the light of 
this morning under circumstances of so much mercy. 
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for 
the eyes to behold the sun. We thank thee that no 
harm has come near us, but that this morning the 
sound of joy and gladness is heard in our dwelling. 

We bless thee that thou hast given us thy word, 
and that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting 



44 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

the soul; that the testimony of the Lord is sure, 
making wise the simple, more to be desired than 
gold, yea, than much fine gold ; sweeter are they 
than honey, and the honey comb. May we take thy 
word as a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path. 
We thank thee for the hopes and the ennobling prin- 
ciples it contains, and that in it life and immortality 
are brought to light. We thank thee for the plan of 
redemption, and the offers of grace in the gospel ; 
and may we have some proper sense of the obligations 
imposed upon us by being permitted to read it in our 
own tongue, and to worship God, as it were, beneath 
our own vine and fig-tree, having none to molest us, 
or to make us afraid. 

We beseech thee to smile upon every effort that is 
made to renovate the world, and bring it back to its 
allegiance to the King of kings. May thy word 
have free course, and run, and be glorified. Wilt 
thou bless the means of grace used in this place, and 
let thy kingdom come, thy will be done as it is done in 
heaven. May every one who has named the name 
of Christ be careful to depart from all iniquity, and 
let vice, and irreligion, and infidelity be done away, 
and may the wickedness of the wicked come to a 
perpetual end. 

We beseech ihee, O Lord, to pardon all our trans- 
gressions, and to give us free and full forgiveness in 
and through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. 
Graciously regard all who minister in holy things : 
enable them to discharge with propriety the impor- 
tant duties of their high and sacred calling. May 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 45 

they preach good tidings to the meek, bind up the 
broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the captive, the 
opening of the prison to them that are bound, and 
the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of ven- 
geance of our God. Bless the minister of the gos- 
pel in this place. Enable him to break the bread of 
life to this people with fidelity, giving to every one 
his portion in due season : and may he be greatly in- 
strumental in winning souls to Christ. 

Bless us who are now worshiping before thee. 
May we rejoice to render thee our morning and eve- 
ning sacrifice, and may our prayer go up into the ear 
of mercy, and return unto our own bosoms fraught 
with the blessings we stand in need of. We now 
commit ourselves into thy hands, beseeching thee to 
guide and direct us this day. May our thoughts, 
words, and actions be such as thou canst approve ; 
and may we be abundantly qualified for the faithful 
discharge of all the duties that are incumbent upon 
us. 

Hear us, O Lord, in these our petitions, and grant 
us an answer in peace. And to Father, Son and 
Holy Spirit be present and everlasting praise. Amen. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 

O eternal God, whose name is love, and who so 
loved the world that thou gavest thine only-begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not per- 



46 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

ish but have everlasting life, help us, by the Holy 
Spirit, to believe in Christ Jesus ; and trusting in 
him to have access unto thee. 

We feel our need of a Saviour for sinners ; for we 
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 
When we look back even on the past day, thy law 
accuses us of many sins, and our own consciences 
justly condemn us. We have been forgetful of thy 
presence ; our conversation has been light and trifl- 
ing ; and we have not with a single eye sought thy 
glory, or copied the holy life of our Saviour Christ. 
He left us a perfect example, but how seldom we 
tread in his steps ; how little have we of his meek- 
ness and lowliness of heart, of his zeal and love ! 
We have sinned, notwithstanding the light of thy 
word, and the checks of our own consciences. 

Grant us thy grace, that we may not be hardened 
through the deceitfulness of sin. Give us true re- 
pentance, and such a sense of our sinfulness as may 
lead us to despair of salvation by any works of our 
own ; and bring us humbled and penitent at the foot 
of the cross. Help us by faith to behold the Lamb 
of God which taketh away the sin of the world. 
Teach us to renounce our own righteousness, and to 
depend wholly on Jesus Christ. May we be able to 
say and feel, " In the Lord have I righteousness and 
strength.' 7 

Teach us to come to Jesus Christ, and to look to 
him, not only for pardon and peace, but also for grace 
and strength. We are weak, but Jesus is strong : 
grant that we may be made strong in and through 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 47 

him. Draw us to Christ, that we may receive out 
of his fullness all that we need, repentance, remis- 
sion of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit ; that 
he may dwell in our hearts by faith, and we be root- 
ed and grounded in love. 

We commend ourselves to thy care during the 
night. Let no evil come nigh us. May our last 
thoughts be with thee ; and when we awake, may 
we be still with thee. Refresh our bodies with the 
quiet repose of the night, and renew our spiritual 
strength. Teach us ever to watch and pray, and to 
be always ready, seeing we know neither the day nor 
the hour when the Son of Man shall come. 

Extend thy merciful care to all that are near and 
dear to us. We pray for all our relatives. May 
those that are endeared to us by the ties of nature, 
be yet more dear by the stronger bonds of grace. 
Grant that we may be all one in Christ Jesus our 
Lord. We pray for our Christian friends, for our 
neighbors, and all with whom we have intercourse. 

Bless those that minister before the Lord : may 
they all be faithful, wise, humble, and devoted ser- 
vants of the Lord Jesus Christ ; may they all fear 
God rather than man. Every where raise up pastors 
according to thine heart, which shall feed thy people 
with knowledge and understanding. Grant thy bles- 
sing to every missionary now preaching Christ to the 
Gentiles. Cause Jew and Gentile to turn to the 
Lord, that they may be. saved. Bring on the happy 
day, when there shall be one fold and one Shepherd ; 



48 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and when there shall be none to hurt or destroy in 
all thy holy mountain. 

O thou giver of every good and perfect gift, we 
praise and bless thee for thy great and continued 
mercies to us. All things thou givest to us richly for 
enjoyment. We receive from thee full provision for 
all our temporal wants, and thou forgivest all our 
iniquities. 

Like as a father pitieth his children, so thou our 
Lord and Father, pitiest them that fear thee. Thou 
knowest our frame ; thou rememberest that we are 
dust. Thou hast had compassion on us in our low 
and lost estate, and thou gavest thy Son to die for 
us ; and now thou offerest and givest us thy Holy 
Spirit, to soften our hard hearts and to help our in- 
firmities. Wilt thou justify us freely by thy grace, 
adopt us into thy family, and give us a hope full of 
glory. 

Behold what manner of love thou our Father hast 
bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons 
of God ! God of mercy, grant, only grant that we 
may be followers of thee as dear children, and show 
forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our 
lives, through Jesus Christ. 

And now blessing, and honor, and glory, and pow- 
er, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and 
unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen. 



THURSDAY MORNING. 49 



THURSDAY MORNING, 

O thou from whom cometh down every good and 
perfect gift ; in whom we live, move, and have our 
being ! We rejoice in the privilege that we enjoy of 
presenting ourselves in thy presence this morning ; 
and that while so many millions of our fellow beings 
are bowing down and worshiping the idols which 
their own hands have made, we are permitted to 
know and worship the one living and true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. We thank thee 
that thou hast appointed and made known a Media- 
tor, who has once suffered for sin, the just for the 
unjust, that he might bring us unto God. In him 
we behold thee reconciling the world unto thyself, 
not imputing their trespasses unto them. And in 
him a multitude which no man can number, redeem- 
ed, renewed, and justified, are exultingly exclaiming, 
My soul shall be joyful in God, for he hath clothed 
me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered 
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom 
decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride 
adorneth herself with her jewels ! 

O, that it were so with us ! O that we could re- 
joice in our spiritual condition, and read our title 
clear to an inheritance among the saints in light. 
We beseech thee, O Lord, to regard us in much 
mercy, who are now worshiping before thee. Behold 
we are vile, what, shall we answer thee ? Our sins 
are more numerous than the stars of heaven, or the 



50 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

sands on the shore, and testify against us. But, O 
Lord, enter not into judgment with us, for in thy 
sight shall no flesh living be justified. We pray that 
thou wouldst give us the deepest sorrow for sin ; may 
we exercise repentance towards God, and faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ ; and let thy favor which is 
life, and thy loving-kindness which is better than 
life, rest upon us. Wash us thoroughly from our 
iniquities and cleanse us from our sins. Purge us 
with hyssop, and we shall be clean ; wash us, and 
we shall be whiter than snow. Create in us a clean 
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. 
Subdue in us every corrupt desire and unholy affec- 
tion j and enable us to resist the temptations of the 
adversary, and seek the way to Zion with our faces 
thitherward. May we be strong in the Lord, and 
in the power of his might ; and put on the whole 
armor of God, having our loins girt about with truth, 
and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and 
our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel 
of peace ; above all, taking the shield of faith, the 
helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, 
which is the word of God, that we may be able to 
stand in the evil day. 

Let thine especial blessing, O Lord, rest upon this 
family to-day. Be with us in the exercise of all our 
lawful undertakings, and prosper us in the work of 
our hands; yea, the work of our hands establish thou 
it. We pray that our faith may be as a shining 
light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect 
day. Complete that which is lacking in our faith ; 



THURSDAY MORNING. 51 

lead us into all truth : and fill our hearts with thy 
rich grace. Fill our minds with the sublime and en- 
dearing object of revelation, that worldly things may 
not too much engross our attention. And wilt thou 
make us also to increase and abound in love one to- 
wards another, and towards all men. Let all bitter- 
ness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil 
speaking be put away from us, with all malice ; and 
may we be kind, one towards another, tender-heart- 
ed ; forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's 
sake, hath forgiven us. 

Inspire us, O Lord, with a well-guarded hope of 
being one day presented before thy presence in glory ; 
when we shall see thee without obscurity, approach 
thee without sin, serve thee without imperfection, 
and enjoy thee without sorrow. Prepare us for all 
the duties and trials that lie before us ; and may no 
temptation overtake us, which we have not power to 
resist. Ever may the candle of the Lord shine 
around this habitation, and may it be a place where 
thou delightest to dwell. Let thy blessing, O Lord, 
rest upon any who are sick around us, or who are in 
any way afflicted, either in mind, body, or estate, 
and give them a happy deliverance out of all their 
troubles. 

We would commend ourselves to thy paternal care 
and guidance during this day. Let our lives and 
healths be precious in thy sight : and may we every 
day grow wiser and better, and so live that we may 
be enabled to consider heaven as our home, angels 
our future companions, God ouf Father, and Christ 



52 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

our elder brother. And not unto us ; not unto us, O 
Lord, but unto thy great name, Father, Son, and 
Spirit, be equal and eternal praises. Amen. 



THURSDAY EVENING. 

Our Father, who art in heaven ! We adore thee 
as the infinite and uncreated God : without begin- 
ning of days nor end of years : before the mountains 
were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the 
earth and the world, even from everlasting to ever- 
lasting, thou art God. We would come into thy 
presence this evening with reverence and humility ; 
and may our prayer come up before thee as incense, 
and the lifting up of our hands be as the evening 
sacrifice. We confess that we are vile, and that we 
are covered with pollution. The whole head is sick, 
and the whole heart faint. From the crown of the 
head even unto the soles of the feet, there is no 
soundness in us. Who can understand his errors ? 
Cleanse thou us from secret faults ; keep back thy 
servants also from presumptuous sins ; let them not 
have dominion over us. 

We thank thee for the mercies and blessings of 
this day : and that our unprofitable and forfeited 
lives have been spared, and our health continued. 
And in view of the goodness with which thou hast 
hitherto passed before us, we would say, The Lord 
is our refuge and fortress ; our God, and in him will 



■■ 



THURSDAY EVENING. 53 

we trust : we will not be afraid for the terror by 
night, nor the arrow that flieth by day ; nor for the 
pestilence that walketh in darkness ; nor for the de- 
struction that wasteth at noon-day. And we rejoice 
in the promise of thy word — Because thou hast made 
the Lord thy refuge, even the Most High thy habita- 
tion, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any 
plague come nigh thy dwelling ; for he shall give his 
angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

We bless thee, O Lord, that when man had bro- 
ken thy law, and rendered himself obnoxious to its 
penalty ; when there was no eye to pity, and no 
created arm that could save ; that thine eye pitied 
and thine arm brought salvation. We render thanks 
to the Lamb, who was slain to redeem us to God by 
his blood. We rejoice that the Son has vindicated 
his Father's character, magnified the law and made 
it honorable, and is now exalted to be a Prince and 
a Saviour, and to give repentance and remission of 
sins. We bless thee for the offer of mercy through 
him, and pray that we may have a saving interest in 
his atoning blood. Have mercy upon us, O God, 
according to thy loving kindness, and according unto 
the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out all our 
transgressions'. Wash us thoroughly from our iniqui- 
ty, and cleanse us from our sin. 

O Lord, we ask not for worldly riches, and hon- 
ors, but may we be blessed with all spiritual blessings 
in and through Christ Jesus. May we present our 
bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, 
which is our reasonable service ; and let us not be 
5* 



54 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

conformed to the world, but be transformed by the 
renewing of our minds, that we may prove what is 
that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God ; 
not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought 
to think, but thinking soberly as God hath dealt to 
us the measure of faith. Let there be in us love 
without dissimulation. May we abhor that which is 
evil, cleave to that which is good, and be kindly 
affectioned one to another : not slothful in business, 
but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. And whether 
the dispensations of thy providence are merciful or 
afflictive, prosperous or adverse, let our confidence 
in thee be unshaken. May we be able to say with 
thy servant of old — Though the fig-tree should not 
blossom, neither should fruit be in the vines ; the 
labor of the olive should fail, and the fields should 
yield no meat ; though the flocks should be cut off 
from the fold, and there should be no herd in the 
stalls: yet will we rejoice in the Lord, and will 
joy in the God of our salvation. 

Wilt thou regard in mercy those who are near and 
dear to us by the ties of kindred, duty or affection. 
Keep them in thy fear, and let their lives and healths 
be long continued, and may each have his name 
written in the Lamb's book of life. May all men 
fear and love the Lord ; and then shall they beat 
their swords into ploughshares and their spears into 
pruning hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against 
nation, neither shall they learn war any more ; and 
none shall need to say to his brother " know the 
Lord ;" for all shall know thee from the least even 



FRIDAY MORNING. 55 

to the greatest. Teach thy people the duties that 
belong to them, in reference to the coming of that 
glorious season. May they trim their lamps and 
keep them burning, and be ready when the bride- 
groom cometh. 

Look in compassion, merciful Parent, upon all who 
are oppressed in our land, in any way. How long, 
O Lord, shall the selfishness of man appropriate to 
itself the time and toil of the weak and needy, and 
degrade the immortal mind with ignorance and sin ? 
Let us undo the heavy burdens, that the oppressed 
may go free ; and may our land no longer be a re- 
proach among the nations of the earth because of 
oppression. May we cease to do evil, and learn to 
do well. Show us that righteousness exalteth a na- 
tion, but that sin is a reproach to any people. 

And when time with us shall be no longer, and 
the world be receding from our view, and the scenes 
of eternity be about to break upon our unclouded 
vision, may we calmly repose in the Saviour's arms, 
and breathe our lives out sweetly there. All of 
which favors we ask in the name of Christ, our me- 
diator. Amen. 



FRIDAY MORNING. 

O thou that hearest prayer ! unto thee should all 
flesh come. Wilt thou teach us to pray in faith ; for 
he that cometh to God must believe that he is, 



56 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently 
seek him. O Lord, we have erred and strayed from 
thy ways like lost sheep, and we have sinned against 
heaven and in thy sight, and are no more worthy to 
be called thy children. But we rejoice that with 
thee there is mercy and plenteous redemption, and 
that in the way of thine appointment thou art wait- 
ing to be gracious ; and hast said, that whatsoever 
we ask, believing in Christ, we shall receive. In his 
all prevailing name we come, for we have nothing of 
our own to plead : our righteousness is as filthy rags, 
and we have no goodness to recommend us to thy 
favorable regard. It becometh us to put our hands 
on our mouths and our mouths in the dust, and with 
the leper to cry unclean, unclean, and with the pub- 
lican, God be merciful to us sinners. 

We thank thee, O our Father, for the mercies of 
the night past, and for the light of this morning ; 
and we pray that thou wouldst lift upon us the still 
more cheering light of thy reconciled countenance, 
reconciled in Jesus Christ, who has given himself a 
ransom for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the 
sins of the whole world. O let us consider him as 
our risen Saviour, and may we feel the power of his 
resurrection, in establishing our faith, enlivening oui 
hope, and securing our sanctification. May we not 
only believe in his resurrection, but partake of it, that 
like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory 
of the Father, even so may we also walk in newness 
of life ; reckoning ourselves to be dead unto sin, but 
alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 



FRIDAY MORNING. 57 

We ask thy blessing, O Lord, on all ranks and 
descriptions of men. Let those who live in Chris- 
tian lands remember that thou hast distinguished 
them far above millions of their fellows, who are 
groping their erring way in heathenish darkness, and 
that to whom much is given, of them will much be 
required. May the darkness of idolatry and hea- 
then superstition, which now envelops so large a por- 
tion of the world, be rolled away by the advancing light 
of the sun of righteousness : and may thy kingdom 
come, and thy will be done on earth as it is done in 
heaven. 

May we never be led to forget that every man is our 
brother. Thou makest thy sun to rise on the evil, 
and on the good ; and sendest rain on the just and 
on the unjust — why then should we shut up our com- 
passions from any that are our fellow creatures ? O dis- 
pose us to do all in our power to dry up the fountains 
of human misery, and to multiply the sources of hu- 
man happiness. Incline us to love the souls of men. 
May we pity those who are thoughtlessly destroying 
their eternal peace, and seek to bring them under the 
influences of the blessed gospel. Grant us that 
spirit which seeketh not her own, and is not easily 
provoked, and that rejoiceth in the truth. Wilt thou 
make us sincere in thy worship, and let us not mock 
thee with lip service, while our hearts are far from 
thee. Thou canst not be deceived, and wilt not be 
mocked ; and thou hast said that the hope of the 
hypocrite shall perish, and that his trust shall be like 
the spider's web. 



58 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

Mercifully regard those, Lord, who are careless 
and secure. Let them not cry, A little more sleep, 
a little more slumber, a little more folding of the 
hands to sleep, till they find by awful experience, 
that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God. Look down in mercy upon us who are 
now before thee. Blot out our transgressions, and 
be at peace with us. Purge us and w r e shall be 
clean ; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow. 
Help us to work this day in thy fear, and may we 
commit our way unto the Lord that he may direct 
our steps. May we be guarded in all our conduct, 
and may we strive to imitate the perfect example of 
Christ in humility and meekness, in charity and de- 
votion ; and may we begin the life of heaven while 
here upon earth. May our lamps be always trim- 
med and burning, and we be like those who wait for 
the coming of their Lord, and be prepared to go in 
and sit down with him at the marriage supper of the 
Lamb. And unto him that loved us, and died to re- 
deem us ; to him be glory and dominion forever and 
ever. Amen. 



FRIDAY EVENING. 

O Lord, thou art the Creator of all the ends of 
the earth, and the Father of the spirits of all flesh ! 
Thou dwellest in light that is inaccessible and full 
of glory : thou coverest thyself with it as with a 



FRIDAY EVENING. 59 

garment, and art clothed with honor and majesty. 
Thou dwellest on high, and humblest thyself to be- 
hold the things that are done in heaven ; and art ex- 
alted above principalities and powers, that at thy 
name every knee should bow, and every tongue 
confess. 

Thou didst create man after thine own image, in 
knowledge and holiness ; thou madest him a little 
lower than the angels and crownedst him with glory 
and honor. But he continued not in the state in 
which he was created, but broke thy law, and brought 
death into the world and all our wo. But we rejoice 
that when he had made himself vile, and was without 
excuse, in due time Christ died for the ungodly ; we 
rejoice that thou didst so love the world as to send 
thine only begotten son into the world, that whoso 
believeth on him might not perish, but have everlast- 
ing life. We adore the wisdom of thy purposes, the 
holiness of thy ways, and the riches of thy grace ; 
and that in Christ mercy and truth are met together, 
righteousness and peace have embraced each other. 

We have reason, O Lord, with shame and contri- 
tion, to confess our unworthiness. We have forsak- 
en thee, the fountain of living waters, and have 
hewed out to ourselves broken cisterns that can hold 
no water. And if thou shouldst be strict to mark 
our iniquities, and shouldst lay righteousness to the 
line, and judgment to the plummet, we could not 
stand in thy presence, nor answer thee for one of a 
thousand of our transgressions. But we would 
hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, 



60 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and with him is plenteous redemption. Remember 
not the sins of our youth and riper years, but blot 
out all our transgressions, and give us free and full 
forgiveness in and through him who both wrought 
out and brought in an everlasting righteousness. 

AVe bless thee for all the goodness of the past day, 
and pray that thy goodness may produce in us its le- 
gitimate fruit, and lead us to repentance. May all 
the dealings of thine holy hand with us be in mercy. 
Convince us of the evil of sin. May we see that in 
punishing it thou dost display not only thy justice, 
but thy mercy too. Bless thy church in this place, 
may it be a bright and shining light ; and may all 
who have named the name of Christ be careful to 
depart from iniquity. May thy people arise and 
shine, their light being come, and the glory of the 
Lord being risen upon them ; and may the church 
become fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terri- 
ble to thine enemies as an army with banners. Re- 
vive thy work in the midst qf us, and let us experi- 
ence a refreshing from thy presence, such as was 
seen on the day of Pentecost, and may hundreds be 
converted, and brought into thy kingdom, who are 
now in the broad road to ruin. Sanctify to all of us 
the means of grace. Let thy word, which we read 
from time to time, do us good as it is wont to do the 
upright of heart ; and may it be like good seed 
sown in good ground, and spring up, and bear fruit 
to thy glory, an hundred fold. 

Wilt thou produce in us that brokenness of heart 
that shall enable us to say, It is a faithful saying and 



FRIDAY EVENING. 61 

worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came 
into the world to save sinners, of whom we are chief. 
May he be delightful to us in all his mediatorial 
offices ; may we love his commands, believe in his 
promises ; and bear his yoke which is easy, and his 
burden which is light, that we may find rest unto 
our souls. We thank thee that thou hast revealed to 
us the way in which fallen and perishing sinners can 
be eternally united to thyself; and that Jesus is the 
way, the truth, and the life. In his name we come ; 
O receive us graciously, and love us freely. May the 
same mind be in us, that was in Christ Jesus. May 
we remember that the night is far spent, and the 
day is at hand ; may we therefore cast off the works 
of darkness, and put on the armor of light : walking 
honestly as in the day ; not in rioting and drunken- 
ness, not in strife and envying ; but may we put on 
the Lord Jesus, and make not provision for the flesh 
to fulfill the lusts thereof. 

We pray for a world lying in wickedness. May 
the heathen who are now sitting in the region and 
shadow of death have the gospel preached to them, 
and let the worshipers of idols see that their gods 
are a vanity and a lie, and cast their idols to the 
moles and to the bats, and with their own hands sub- 
scribe unto the Lord. Gird thy sword upon thy 
thigh, O thou most mighty, and ride forth, conquer- 
ing and to conquer, till the whole earth shall be full 
of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 
the sea. Dissipate the clouds of error and super- 
stition which hang over the church, and let the gos- 



62 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

pel in its purity prevail in the earth, till the name of 
Christ shall be praised from sea to sea, and from the 
river to the ends of the earth. 

Protect us during the defenceless hours of the 
night ; let no harm come near our dwelling, but let 
the shades of evening descend upon us in peace and 
quietness : and may we lie down at peace with the 
world, and with thee, and lift our eyes upon the light 
of another morning, better prepared for thy worship. 
And to him who hath loved us, and given himself to 
die for us, to him be glory and honor forever. 
Amen. 



SATURDAY MORNING. 

thou Shepherd of Israel ! Doubtless thou art 
our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and 
Israel acknowledge us not. In the beginning thou 
hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heav- 
ens are the work of thy hands : they shall perish, but 
thou remainest ; they all shall wax old as doth a gar- 
ment ; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and 
they shall be changed : but thou art the same, and 
thy years shall not fail. Thou art unsearchable in 
thy judgments, and thy ways past finding out. Who 
by searching can find out God ? 

We rejoice, O Lord, that wherever we turn our 
eyes, we behold the evidences of thy wisdom, power 
and goodness. Thou sittest upon the circle of the 



SATURDAY MORNING. 63 

earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grass hoppers 
before thee. Thou hast meted out the heavens with 
a span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a 
measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and 
the hills in a balance ; thou takest up the isles as 
a very little thing. Help us in conscious unwor- 
thiness, to bow before thee with mingled emotions of 
adoration, fear, humility, and love. 

We bless thee for the circumstances of comfort in 
which we find ourselves this morning, refreshed by 
the quiet repose of another night, and the permis- 
sion to worship before thee in the way of thine ap- 
pointment. Thy mercies are new every morning, 
fresh every evening, and repeated every moment; 
and while we enjoy thy rich blessings, let us not for- 
get to render praise to Him unto whom all praise 
belongs. We thank thee for thy word, which makes 
known to us what we are by nature, and what we 
must be by grace, before we can have a title to an 
inheritance among those who are sanctified. Bestow 
upon us while we wait before thee, a spirit of grace 
and supplication, and indite our petitions for us ; for, 
by reason of sin, we know not how to ask, nor what 
to ask. We rejoice that through the sufferings of 
Christ a new and living way has been opened for the 
salvation of all who believe in Jesus. Give us to 
exercise faith in him. We thank thee that the re- 
demption by him is full and free, and needeth not the 
added righteousness of man to make it perfect. We 
pray that our confidence in thee may be unshaken ; 
and may each of us be able to say — The Lord is my 



64 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

Shepherd, I shall not want ; he maketh me to lie 
down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the 
still waters. Yea, though I walk through the valley 
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou 
art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 
Look in mercy, O thou King of kings, upon a 
world revolted from thee, and now lying in wicked- 
ness. We mourn that iniquity abounds, and that the 
love of many waxes cold ; and that so few come up 
to the solemn feasts of Zion. But thou hast said — * 
When iniquity comes in like a flood, I will lift up a 
standard against it. Roll back, O Lord, the tide of 
iniquity that threatens to overwhelm all that is pure, 
lovely and of good report. May men every where 
see the error of their ways, and yield a willing sub- 
mission to the mild reign of king Immanuel, and bow 
to the sceptre of thy love. Let the young in our 
midst be convinced that youth is the time to seek 
the Lord, the time to ensure the great reward, and 
yield themselves willing and obedient subjects of thy 
kingdom, while it is an accepted time, and a day of 
salvation. And especially may all those who have 
been dedicated to thee in baptism, remember that 
they are thine not only by creation and redemption, 
but also by dedication ; and that obligations of infi- 
nite weight are resting upon them to consecrate 
themselves to thy service in the morning of life, while 
the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, 
when they shall say, that because of sorrow and in- 
firmity they have no pleasure in them. Bless the 
Sabbath schools among us, and make these little 



SATURDAY MORNING. 65 

nurseries of piety the places from which thy church 
shall be abundantly replenished by multitudes who 
shall be pillars in thy church militant, and brighter 
pillars in thy church triumphant. 

Bless this family with a Father's blessing. We 
rejoice that thou takest the solitary and settest him 
in families. We bless thee for the comforts of 
home, and for all the joys of social life. May our 
influence over each other be such as we shall not be 
ashamed to review when we meet at the bar of God. 
Let no root of bitterness spring up among us, but 
may we do unto one another as we would have 
others do unto us. We shall not always remain 
here. Separations will take place on earth, and 
death will take us to his cold embrace, one after 
another ; and let us so live, as that when we stand 
around the dying bed of one and another of this 
dear circle, there may be no unkind feelings to allay, 
and nothing over which we shall be obliged to throw 
the cloak of charity. 

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us 
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass 
against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver 
us from evil. 

Help us to spend this and all our days to thy 
praise. And when days and nights shall be no more, 
may we be admitted to thy presence, where is fullness 
of joy ; and to thy right hand, where are pleasures 
for €ver more. And to God only wise, Father, Son, 
and Spirit, be ceaseless and united praises. Amen. 
6* 



66 FAMILY PRAYERS. 



SATURDAY EVENING. 

O Lord God of Hosts ! Thou hast established thy 
throne in the heavens, and thy kingdom ruleth over 
all. We bless thee for the appointment and revela- 
tion of the one only Mediator between God and man: 
by whose sufferings and death sinners are reconciled 
to thee, and made kings and priests unto God. Thou 
hast laid on him the iniquity of us all. Surely he 
hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows ; the 
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with 
his stripes we are healed. We look to thee as to 
the Creator of all the ends of the earth. Thou art 
the former of our bodies, and the Father of our spir- 
its, and hast a perfect right to the best services we 
can render to thee. Thou hast endowed us with 
faculties of mind and powers of body, capable of 
being improved and exercised in thy service, and for 
the benefit of our fellow men : we pray that we may 
consider these faculties and powers as talents, for the 
improvement of which thou wilt require us to render 
up an account; and may we so live, that this ac- 
count may be rendered up with joy, and not with 
grief. 

We thank thee for the fatherly care thou hast ex- 
ercised over us from the cradle to the present time. 
We thank thee that we have enjoyed health and 
friends, and have been supplied with food and rai- 
ment convenient for us : and in view of all the good- 



SATURDAY EVENING. 67 

ness with which thou hast passed before us, we would 
call upon our souls and all that is within us, to bless 
and magnify thy great and holy name. Bless the 
Lord, O our souls ! and forget not all his benefits, 
who crowneth our lives with loving-kindness, and 
with tender mercy. But notwithstanding thy good- 
ness, we have been evil and unthankful. We are all 
gone out of the way ; there is none that doeth good. 
We are all as an unclean thing, and our righteousness 
is as filthy rags. Our goodness is as the morning 
cloud and early dew, which quickly passeth away. 
But, O Lord, be not strict to mark our iniquities 
against us, and cast us not away from thy presence, 
as thou might justly do ; but have mercy upon us 
according to thy loving-kindness ; and according unto 
the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out all our 
transgressions. Take away these stony hearts, and 
give us hearts of flesh, that we may walk in thy 
statutes, and keep thy commands. May we take 
thy yoke upon us for it is easy, and thy burden, and 
bear it, for it is light, and so may we find rest unto 
our souls. 

Let thy blessing rest, most merciful Parent, upon 
all for whom we should pray. Bless those who are 
near and dear to us by the bonds of friendship and 
affection. Grant thy blessing upon the church and 
people in this place. And may thy ministering ser- 
vant, who from week to week breaks the bread of 
life to this people, receive an unction from the Holy 
One, and be abundantly furnished unto every good 
word and work. We thank thee that thou hast 



68 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

committed the gospel treasure to earthen vessels, 
that the excellency of the power might be of God. 
We rejoice that it has pleased thee, by that which 
the world calls the foolishness of preaching, to save 
them that believe. 

Help us to mourn over the desolations of Zion, 
and over our own sinfulness. O that our heads were 
waters, and our eyes fountains of tears, that we might 
weep day and night for our multiplied offences. 
Help us to think on our ways, and turn our feet unto 
thy testimonies. May we put off the old man, which 
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and put on 
the new man, which after God is created in righteous- 
ness and true holiness. We thank thee that thou 
hast cast our lines in a pleasant place, and given us 
a goodly heritage. Thou hast crowned our land 
with innumerable blessings, and hast not dealt with 
any other nation as thou hast dealt with us. May 
w T e continue to be under thy watchful care, and strive 
to be a holy, that we may be a happy people. 

May we feel a growing conformity to the image 
of thy Son, and strive to imitate him in all things. 
May the time past suffice for us to have wrought the 
will of the flesh, and henceforward may we live more 
by faith on him who gave himself for us, and who 
ever liveth to make intercession for us. In all our 
intercourse with our fellow creatures, may we deal 
justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. 
Send forth the heralds of salvation to all the benight- 
ed portions of our world; and let the heathen soon 



SATURDAY EVENING. 60 

be given to thy Son for his inheritance, and the ut- 
termost parts of the earth for his possession. 

Prepare us for the solemnities of the coming Sab- 
bath ; and if we are permitted to go up to thine 
house, may we enter thy gates with praise, and thy 
courts with thanksgiving. Give to those who shall 
proclaim thy truth on the morrow, the tongue of the 
learned, that they may know how to speak a word 
in season to them that are weary. And now, Lord., 
what wait we for, but thy blessing ? Our hope is in 
thee. Watch over us for good this night. Save us 
from devouring flame, and let us repose in quietness 
and peace. May thy holy angels pitch their tents 
about our dwelling, and let thy banner over us be 
love. Meet out all our changes in much mercy ; 
and when time with us shall be no longer, and we 
are called to make the exchange of worlds, may we 
be able to look back upon a life well spent in thy ser- 
vice, and forward with bright anticipations and well 
grounded hopes, to an inheritance that is incorrupti- 
ble, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. And 
we will render equal and undivided ascriptions of 
praise to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
for ever and ever. Amen. 



SUNDAY MORNING. 

O God, thou art very great ! thou art clothed with 
honor and majesty ; and it becomes us to approach 



70 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

thee with reverence and godly fear. We are un- 
worthy to come before thee, but we rejoice that we 
are not unwelcome ; for thou hast said, Ho, every one 
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that 
hath no money ; come ye, buy, and eat ; yea, come, 
buy wine and milk without money and without price ; 
incline your ear, and come unto me, and I will make 
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mer- 
cies of David. We bless thee for the return of holy 
time, and for the institutions of religion ; but espe- 
cially for the institution of the Sabbath, and all the 
delightful privileges which flow to us from its observ- 
ance. May we ever remember the Sabbath day, to 
keep it holy, and be in the spirit on the Lord's day ; 
and with active zeal engage in all the duties of reli- 
gion, secret, social, and public ; and may we remember 
that every prayer, sermon, and Sabbath, increases 
our responsibility, and brings us nearer to our final ac- 
count ; and enable us so to improve the privileges of 
this holy day, that eventually we may render up that 
account with joy, and not with grief. May we re- 
member that on the morning of this day the Saviour 
burst the bars of death, and rose triumphant from 
the tomb, as the first fruits of them that slept ; and 
may we consider this as the earnest of our own 
bright resurrection. We thank thee that on this day 
we may lay aside the busy cares and anxieties of the 
world, and spend the hours of sacred time in com- 
munion with the Father and with his Son Jesus 
Christ. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord 
of hosts : our souls long, yea, even faint for the 



SUNDAY MORNING. 71 

courts of the Lord ; — and if suffered to go to the place 
of prayer, maj we enter into his gates with thanks- 
giving, and into his courts with praise : and may it 
be to us none other than the house of God, the very 
gate of heaven. 

We beseech thee, O Lord, to be with those to-day 
who minister at thine altars. Teach them to break 
unto thy people the bread of life in faithfulness and 
sincerity. May they preach in demonstration of the 
Spirit and of power, with the Holy Ghost sent down 
from heaven ; and may they see the work of the 
Lord abundantly prosper in their hands. Give them 
an unction from the Holy One, and let a double por- 
tion of thy Spirit rest upon them, as they proclaim 
thy truth from the sacred desk ; and make thy word 
to have free course, and run, and be glorified : — 
make it the wisdom and power of God unto the sal- 
vation of all that hear it. And wilt thou be with 
those who have gone to plant the standard of the 
cross in the dark corners of the earth that are full of 
the habitations of cruelty. Be thou a wall of fire 
round about them, and a glory in their midst ; and 
give them many souls as seals of their ministry, and 
stars in the crown of their rejoicing. 

May pure and undefiled religion prevail in this 
place. Pour out thy Spirit as rain upon the mown 
grass, and as showers that water the earth. May 
thy children be edified and quickened, and impeni- 
tent sinners be pricked in their hearts, and led to re- 
ceive the Saviour, and find peace in believing. We 
pray thee to bless the young of this place and of our 



72 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

land, and may they early become acquainted with 
him whom to know aright is life and peace. May 
they be found daily watching at wisdom's gates, 
waiting at the posts of her doors. O let our sons 
be as plants, grown up in their youth, and our 
daughters, as corner stones, polished after the simili- 
tude of a palace. Smile, O Lord, upon the Sabbath 
schools in this place. Give to the superintendents 
all the wisdom they need, and enable them to adopt 
those measures and execute those plans, which shall 
best advance the interests of the schools, and promote 
piety in the pupils. Bless the teachers, and make 
them faithful stewards of the Lord, and abundantly 
reward them for their labors of love. 

Wilt thou enable us to day to live as we shall wish 
we had done, when Sabbath and sanctuary privileges 
shall have passed away. May we exercise the most 
godly sorrow for sin, and a lively faith in the Son of 
God, as our Mediator and Intercessor. May we 
look on him whom we have pierced and mourn, and 
be in bitterness as one that mourneth for her first- 
born. Feed us with heavenly manna, and give us 
to drink of the fountain of living waters. Be with 
us through this day, and may we keep it holy, 
even to the end of it ; not thinking our own 
thoughts, speaking our own words, nor doing our 
own actions. May we strive to overcome sin, and 
seek after that holiness without which no man shall 
see God ; and forgetting those things which are be- 
hind and reaching forth unto those which are before, 
may we press toward the mark for the prize of the 



SUNDAY EVENING. 73 

high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And wilt thou 
give us the spirit of adoption, whereby we may cry 
Abba, Father ; and may the Spirit bear witness with 
our spirits, that we are born of God. And when 
heart and flesh shall fail us, be thou the strength of 
our hearts, and our portion forever : and unto Fa- 
ther, Son, and Spirit be ascriptions of endless praise. 
Amen. 



SUNDAY EVENING. 

O thou that dwellest in the heavens ! unto thee 
would we lift up our eyes, even unto thee, from 
whence cometh our help. At the close of another 
day of holy solemnities, a day consecrated to thy 
worship, we would come to offer up our evening sac- 
rifice. Let us bring no vain oblation before thee, 
but let the language of our lips, and the prayer of 
our hearts, come up before thee with acceptance. 
We acknowledge that we are not worthy to come 
into thy presence ; and we will not come in our own 
name, but in the name of him who has said, What- 
soever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will 
give it you. We acknowledge that we have been 
evil and unthankful ; and that we have been unprofi- 
table servants ; having known our Master's will, we 
have not done it. We have done those things which 
we ought not to have done, and have left undone 
those things which we ought to have done ; we have 
7 



74 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

rolled sin as a sweet morsel under our tongues, and 
have drank in iniquity as the ox drinketh in water. 
But, notwithstanding our iniquities testify against 
us, and we have nothing we can offer as an excuse 
for our transgressions, yet we rejoice that thou art in 
Christ reconciling the world unto thyself, not im- 
puting their trespasses unto them. We thank thee 
for the offers of eternal life in the gospel, and that 
this plan of redemption is made so plain that he that 
runneth may read, and the wayfaring man, though a 
fool in other matters, may not err in this. 

Deeply impress upon our minds a sense of the 
renewed obligations conferred upon us by the blessed 
privileges of this holy Sabbath. Sanctify to us the 
dispensation of thy word, to which we have listened 
to-day ; and may we give earnest heed to the truths 
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let 
them slip. Wilt thou make thy word quick and 
powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, and a 
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 
Give us the teachings of thy Spirit, that we may 
understand and love thy statutes ; since he only that 
doeth thy will, shall know of the doctrine, whether 
it be of God : while he is cursed, who continueth 
not in all things written in the book of the law, to 
do them. Make thy word profitable to us for doc- 
trine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction 
in righteousness ; and in searching thy truth, may 
we find the pearl of great price. 

We beseech thee, O Lord, that thou wouldst sub- 
due and scatter every form of error in thy church 



SUNDAY EVENING. 75 

and throughout the world. Remove from the house- 
hold of faith, every thing that exalts itself against 
thy word, and perverts the right ways of the Lord ; 
and bring thy people of every name into the unity of 
the Spirit. Cast down the Man of Sin ; overthrow 
the False Prophet ; scatter the temples of Idolatry ; 
break the fetters of Infidelity, and the yoke of the 
oppressor, and overturn, and overturn, till he whose 
right it is, shall come and reign King of nations, as 
he now is King of saints. 

We thank thee, O Lord, for the ministry of recon- 
ciliation, and that through the foolishness of preach- 
ing, thou art pleased to save them that believe. Fill 
us with grateful emotions, that we sit under the con- 
tinual droppings of the sanctuary. And while we 
enjoy these rich blessings, we would extend our 
sympathies to those who are deprived of them, and 
who are sitting in the region and shadow of death. 
Thou hast promised that thy Son should have the 
heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts 
of the earth for his possession. Verify this promise, 
we pray thee. May the gospel in all its renewing, 
elevating, and sanctifying power, be proclaimed in 
all lands and in all tongues, till all the millions of 
Adam's lost race shall know that Christ hath opened 
a fountain for sin and uncleanness. And for the ac- 
complishment of this end, be pleased to grant thy 
rich blessing on all the efforts now making to publish 
these glad tidings to all nations. Bless the Bible, 
and Missionary, and Education Societies, and all 
others whose object is the dissemination of truth, 



76 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and the glory of God. Bless the missionaries of the 
cross, who have taken their lives in their hands, and 
have gone to foreign lands, or to distant and desolate 
portions of our own land, to preach Christ and him 
crucified. Thou knowest their temptations, their 
privations and wants ; and we beseech thee to sup- 
ply them from thine infinite fullness, as thou seest 
they need. Animate them with courage, zeal, prayer 
and hope ; and let them have the unspeakable joy of 
knowing that they do not labor in vain, nor spend 
their strength for nought ; and permit them to see 
the work of the Lord abundantly prospering in their 
hands. 

Mercifully regard thine ancient people, the Jews, 
and seek and save the lost sheep of the house of 
Israel. How long, O Lord, shall they be a scattered 
and a peeled nation, a hissing and a by-word in all 
the earth? Confirm the truth of the gospel, and 
glorify thy Son, by bringing them into the blessings 
of the new covenant ; for if the fall of them was 
the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them 
the riches oF the Gentiles, how much more their 
fullness. 

Bestow thy blessing upon us, as we retire to rest. 
Let thine angels keep their watch about our beds ; 
and may our sleep be seasonable, quiet, and refresh- 
ing. Let the week upon which we have entered, 
be one of signal blessing to us ; may we be faithful 
in our day and generation, doing with our might 
what our hands find to do, knowing that time is 
short, and life uncertain, and that there is no re- 



MONDAY MORNING. 77 

pentance, nor knowledge, nor device in the cold 
grave to which we are hasting. And when we come 
to the close of life, may we go down to the grave 
like a shock of corn fully ripe for the sickle, and find 
our work done, and well done. 

And we will say, not unto us, O Lord, not unto 
us, but unto thy great name, be glory and honor and 
dominion, for ever and ever. Amen. 



• MONDAY MORNING. 

Infinitely great, and ever blessed God! Aid us 
as we attempt to worship thee this morning, by 
prayer and supplication. Indite our petitions for us, 
that our morning offering may be acceptable to thee ; 
and give us a spirit of grace and supplication ; for 
we are so worldly in our feelings, and so grovelling 
in our desires, that of ourselves we cannot worship 
thee aright. We are unworthy to approach thee, 
for thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, 
and canst not look on sin with the least degree of 
allowance. Behold, we are vile ; what shall we 
answer thee ? In view of our transgressions we 
would abhor ourselves, and repent in dust and ashes. 
We thank thee that if any man sin, we have an Ad- 
vocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the right- 
eous ; and that he is the propitiation for our sins, 
and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the 
whole world. In his adorable and all-prevailing 
7* 



78 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

name we come, feeling that it is through him alone 
that thou hearest prayer. He is the way, the truths 
and the life : the way we should walk, the truth we 
should believe, and the life we should live. 

Accept our early and hearty thanks, for the re- 
newed expressions of thy mercy which we behold 
all around us this morning. We thank thee that in- 
stead of being confined to our beds by pain and lan- 
guishing, we are permitted to rise from them, re- 
freshed by the repose of the night past, and strength- 
ened for the duties which are before us. We thank 
thee that the voice of joy and gladness* is heard in 
our dwelling, instead of the voice of lamentation and 
mourning ; and that the bloom of health is seen on 
every cheek, instead of the paleness of the tomb. 
We bless thee for the privileges of the past Sabbath. 
May we bring much of it into the week with us, and 
let us exhibit in our daily deportment that love to 
God and good will to man which the services of thy 
house are calculated to produce. May all the chris- 
tian graces be in operative exercise in us : May \\i 
give all diligence to add to our faith virtue ; and to 
virtue knowledge ; and to knowledge temperance ; 
and to temperance patience ; and to patience godli- 
ness : and to godliness brotherly kindness ; and to 
brotherly kindness charity : knowing that if these 
things be in us and abound, they will make us that 
we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowl- 
edge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may we give 
diligence to make our calling and election sure ; for 
if we do these things we shall never fall : and so an 



MONDAY MORNING. 79 

entrance shall be ministered unto us abundantly into 
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

Be with us, O Lord, in all our undertakings. En- 
able us to provide things honest in the sight of all 
men. While we labor for the things which perish 
with the using, may we be laying up treasures in 
heaven, where the moth and the rust do not corrupt, 
and where thieves do not break through nor steal. 
Give us grace and strength to overcome sin, the 
world, and the adversary of souls ; for thou hast 
said, He that overcometh shall be clothed in white 
raiment ; and I will not blot out his name out of the 
book of life, but I will confess his name before my 
Father, and before his holy angels ; and he shall sit 
with me on my throne, even as I overcame and am 
set down with my Father on his throne. 

Be graciously near to all our friends, and make 
them thy friends ; and if we have any enemies, wilt 
thou forgive them, and help us to cherish towards 
them the utmost kindness and love ; may we bless 
them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, 
and pray for them that despitefully use us and per- 
secute us ; that we may be the children of our Fa- 
ther which is in heaven ; for he maketh his sun to 
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on 
the just and on the unjust. 

Look in tender mercy, O Lord, upon those who 
are bowing down to gods which their own hands 
have made, or rendering that homage to thy crea- 
tures which belongs only to thee. Teach the hea- 



80 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

then that the Godhead is not like unto gold, or silver, 
or stone, graven by art or man's device, and may 
they cast their idols to the moles and to the bats, and 
honor and serve the only living and true God. Pour 
out thy Spirit upon this place in copious effusions, 
and let the solemn inquiry be heard from every im- 
penitent soul, " what must I do to be saved ?" and 
mav righteousness run down our streets like water, 
and salvation like an overflowing stream. Extend 
thy compassions to the whole family of man. En- 
lighten the Gentile world with a knowledge of the 
truth, and may the Sun of righteousness arise upon 
them with healing in his wings. Let the wilderness 
and solitary place be glad for them, and the desert 
rejoice and blossom as the rose. 

Wilt thou bless thy church universal. We thank 
thee that thou hast established thy church on earth, 
and hast put the seal of thy redeeming grace upon it. 
Cause all thy people to strive for the welfare of 
Zion, and may they mourn over her desolations, and 
rejoice when her righteousness goes forth as bright- 
ness, and her salvation as a lamp that burnetii. Arise 
and have mercy on Zion : let the time to favor her, 
yea, the set time come : and when her enemy comes 
in like a flood, do thou lift up a standard against him. 
Bless the portion of thy heritage in this place. May 
we be a praying people, zealous of good works ; and 
so let our light shine, that men seeing our good 
works, may glorify our Father who is in heaven. 

We renewedly commend ourselves to thy care and 
guidance through the day. Be with us in our out- 



MONDAY EVENING. 81 

goings and in-comings, and let all our steps be ordered 
by thee. And to the triune Jehovah, Father, Son, 
and Spirit, be present and eternal praise. Amen. 



MONDAY EVENING. 

O God ! Thou art greatly to be feared, and to be 
had in reverence of all them that are about thee. 
Thou art King of kings, and Lord of lords. Thou 
only hast immortality, dwelling in light unapproach- 
able and glorious. Thy tender mercies are over all 
thy works ; and thou hast displayed the exceeding 
riches of thy grace, in sending thine only begotten 
Son into the world, that the world through him might 
believe. 

We thank thee for the privilege of prayer ; and 
that we are not only allowed, but commanded to seek 
thy face, with the assurance that those who seek the 
Lord shall not want any good thing. We confess 
our unworthiness, and that we have forfeited all 
claim to thy favorable regard ; and if we are ever 
saved from the wrath to come, it must be because 
thy compassions fail not, and thy mercy has not 
clean gone forever. Notwithstanding our sinfulness, 
thou hast commended thy love towards us, in that 
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us : and 
thou hast sent the gospel to announce that whosoever 
believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting 
life. 



82 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

As thou hast given us this Saviour, wilt thou pro- 
duce in us that faith by which we shall be enabled 
to receive him into good and honest hearts : making 
him our great example, and endeavoring to conform 
to his requirements in all things. May we never be 
ashamed of Christ, nor of his words, remembering 
that if we confess him before men, he will confess 
us before his Father and the holy angels. Give us 
grace to perform all our duties as unto the Lord, and 
not unto man. Enable us to lay aside every weight, 
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and to run 
with patience the race that is set before us, looking 
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who 
for the joy that was set before him, endured the 
cross, despised the shame of it, and is now set down 
on the right hand of God, where he ever liveth to 
make intercession for us. May we ever be mindful 
that this world is not our home, but may we seek 
one to come, even an heavenly. And may we be 
looking for, as we are hasting unto, the coming of 
the Lord Jesus, when he shall be revealed from 
heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking 
vengeance on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bless all our dear friends and connexions with the 
same favors which we ask for ourselves. Forgive 
our enemies, and bless our benefactors. Do good in 
thy good pleasure unto Zion ; and build thou the 
walls of Jerusalem. Give unto those that mourn in 
Zion, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, 
and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness* 



MONDAY EVENING. 88 

Be pleased to bless our common country. Make 
all our officers peace, and our exactors righteousness. 
Hasten the time when nations shall learn war no 
more, but when they shall beat their swords into 
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. 
Let oppression cease in our land ; and may the lac- 
erating scourge be laid aside, and the galling yoke 
be broken, and those who are bowed down beneath 
an iron bondage, and held in unrequited servitude, 
be brought forth into civil liberty, as well as into the 
freedom wherewith the sons of God are free. 

Wilt thou grant that the banner of the cross may 
be unfurled on every heathen shore, and that all men 
may receive the knowledge of thy word, and rejoice 
in the life and immortality that are brought to light 
in the gospel. Comfort all that are in affliction. 
Relieve the wants of the poor and needy : sustain 
those who are languishing on beds of sickness and 
sorrow ; and if any are appointed unto speedy death, 
wilt thou fit and prepare them to make the great ex- 
change of worlds, and may thy rod and thy staff 
comfort them as they pass through the valley and 
shadow of death. 

Bless this family with every needed grace and 
mercy. Let our lives and health be precious in thy 
sight ; and as the evening shades gather around us, 
may they remind us of death, and that soon we shall 
be called to bid adieu to earthly scenes, and all we 
now hold dear. May our meditations upon the un- 
certainty of life, be frequent and profitable, and lead 
us to rely more and more firmly on the atoning merits 



84 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

of the blood of Christ for pardon and salvation. 
We ask and offer all in the name of Jesus Christ, for 
whom we bless thee ; and to whom, with the Father 
and the Holy Ghost, be present and eternal praise. 
Amen. 



TUESDAY MORNING. 

Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and 
earth is named, who hast said that thou wilt be the 
God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be 
thy people ; dispose our hearts, by the gracious in- 
fluence of thy Holy Spirit, to worship thee through 
one Mediator, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Thou art God, and there is none beside thee : the 
Creator of heaven and earth, the Lord of glory, the 
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, 
abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for 
thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and 
sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. 

Accept, through thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, 
our unfeigned thanksgivings for the mercies of 
another day. Thou gavest us our being, and thou 
preservest us from day to day. Through the de- 
fenceless hours of the night thou hast kept us in 
safety. Thou hast given us a soul capable of know- 
ing and rejoicing in thee, and a body by which we 
may serve thee. 



TUESDAY MORNING. S5 

We bless thee for the seeing eye, and the hearing 
ear, for the free use of our limbs and our senses, for 
the power of the mind, and the affections of the 
heart. 

But, O Lord, we thank thee most of all for thy 
spiritual blessings. We bless thee that we were not 
born in heathen lands, but in this favored country, 
where the light of thy truth clearly shines. We 
thank thee for the comfort of the Holy Scriptures, 
for the labors of faithful ministers, and for all the 
means of grace. O how great has been thy love to 
us ! Thou sparedst not thine own Son, but deliver- 
ed him up for us all, and with him thou hast freely 
given us all things. 

We are invited to come to thee ; though we be 
guilty and sinful, we are freely offered pardon, peace, 
and salvation ; and thou givest us a hope full of im- 
mortality in Christ Jesus our Saviour. 

What reward shall we render unto the Lord for 
all his benefits ? We desire now afresh to devote 
ourselves to thy service. We give up ourselves, our 
whole selves unto thee. God of peace, sanctify us 
wholly. God of our life, grant that our whole spirit, 
and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless unto 
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

But with shame and confusion of face, we would 
confess that we have been rebellious and disobedi- 
ent. Thou art holy, but we are unholy. Thou art 
merciful, but we have often been selfish and unkind. 
Thou art pure, but we are impure. Thou art pa- 
tient, but we are impatient. We have abused all thy 
8 



86 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

gifts, and made them occasions of sin. Lord, we 
acknowledge our impenitence, we confess our unbe- 
lief, and bewail our self-righteousness. 

Forgive us all our offences, remember not against 
us our transgressions, but remember thy great and 
tender mercies w r hich have been ever of old. Grant 
unto every one of us a saving interest in the death 
of Christ, full and free forgiveness of all our sins, and 
grace and strength to go and sin no more. Lord, 
help us to love thee, teach us to serve thee. Give 
us thy strength that we may overcome our corrupt 
nature. Grant that this day we may have power 
from on high to resist every temptation, to confess 
Christ before men, to labor stedfastly with a single 
eye to thy glory, to live in the spirit of prayer, in 
faith, humility, self-denial, and love, and walk before 
thee in that narrow way that leads to eternal life. 
Fill us with love to others. Teach us to do good to 
all men, and to seek according to our means to visit 
and relieve the fatherless and the widows in their 
affliction : and do thou keep us unspotted from the 
world. 

Lord, for thy name's sake, hear us. We beseech 
thee, according to thy infinite mercy, give us grace 
to serve thee, constantly and unfeignedly. Herein 
art thou glorified, that we bear much fruit. For 
thine own glory, grant us thy Spirit, that we may 
bring forth all the fruits of righteousness. 

And hear us, Father, in behalf of our relations and 
friends, our neighborhood, our Minister, and all for 
whom we ought to pray. Help those that are weak. 



TUESDAY EVENING. 87 

Comfort those that are cast down. Heal those that 
are sick. Relieve those that are in distress. Be 
merciful unto thy Church. O bless us and cause 
thy face to shine upon us ; and may thy way be 
known upon earth, thy saving health among all na- 
tions. Bring the Gentiles to Christ. Gather thy 
people Israel into thy fold. Give us wisdom and 
zeal in every effort of Christian love for spreading 
thy Gospel. Bless all societies formed for this end, 
and let those who support and conduct them have thy 
direction and guidance. Lord, grant that the power 
of the cross of Christ, may at length fully triumph 
over all error and superstition, all idolatry, and delu- 
sion, and sin. 

Gracious Lord, not for our worthiness, but for the 
only name's sake of Jesus Christ, hear these our 
prayers, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and 
the glory, for ever. Amen. 



TUESDAY EVENING. 

O thou, who art the God of all the families of 
the earth ! be thou present with us now, and enable 
us by thy Holy Spirit, and through thy Son's inter- 
cession, to worship thee in spirit and in truth. 

We come before thee acknowledging that we 
were all born in sin, the children of wrath, and have 
in common a corrupt nature and a continual propen- 
sity to depart from thee. And, how often have 



88 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

we offended thee, by actual transgressions. Even in 
the day that is past, by vain thoughts, by idle words, 
by sinful indulgences, we have grieved thy Spirit, 
and we have incurred thy displeasure. Our only 
refuge is in thy promised mercy in Christ Jesus. 
We cast ourselves wholly on that mercy. Fixing 
all our hopes on our Saviour, Jesus, we con fess our 
guilt, and earnestly pray that his blood may cleanse 
us from all sin. 

Give us, we beseech thee, such a sense of thy 
mercy in free forgiveness, through the blood of 
Christ, that we may be constrained to present our 
bodies a living sacrifice unto thee. Enable us daily 
to crucify the lusts of the flesh. Give us such a 
a measure of thy grace, that all the powers of our 
minds, all the affections of our hearts, and all the 
talents thou hast entrusted to us, may be unreserv- 
edly devoted to thee. 

We pray thee, great Lord of the harvest, who 
seest and knowest all men, and hast the hearts of all 
in thy control, bless all Universities, Seminaries, and 
Schools, that in them, the young may be trained up 
in the fear of God and the faith in Christ. Send 
forth into thy vinyard, both in our own country and 
in every land, men of an enlightened mind and a 
devout heart, men of patient perseverance, of firm 
resolution, of entire dedication of body and soul to 
their work, and of unquenchable love for immortal 
souls. 

And give us, we beseech thee, the comfortable as- 



TUESDAY EVENING. 89 

surance that our sins are forgiven. Let thy Holy 
Spirit bear witness with our spirits that we are 
children of God. Plentifully impart to us the gift 
of thy Spirit, that we may bring forth love, joy, 
peace, gentleness, goodness, meekness, long-suffer- 
ing, forbearance, and temperance. Grant that we 
may so copy the example of our Saviour, as to be the 
Epistles of Christ, known and read of all men ; and 
have clear evidence of our own salvation. Teach 
us so to live, that we may glorify thee who hast 
bought us with a price of such amazing value as the 
blood of thine own Son. 

O that all now in thy presence may indeed ob- 
tain mercy in Christ Jesus, be passed from death 
unto life, and love and serve thee unfeignedly. But, 
O Lord, how cold is our love to thee ! how dead, 
how dull are our hearts ! Help us to love thee : to 
love God with all our heart, with all our mind, with 
all our soul, and all our strength. Shed abroad the 
love of God in our hearts, by giving us the Holy 
Ghost ; and may we be taught of God to love one 
another. Be thou present with us in our more retir- 
ed devotions : praying to our Father which is in 
secret in our closet, may we find his presence and 
blessing there. 

Bless, O Lord, all that are near and dear to us. 
Many beloved relatives and friends are now absent 
from us ; but thou art with them, and all their wants 
are known to thee. Give them thy grace ; ever 
guide them here by thy counsel, and may none of 
them be wanting in thy heavenly kingdom. 
8* 



90 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

We pray for all in authority ; Lord, may their 
counsels be ordered by thee as may be most for the 
good of our country. 

Give, we beseech thee, to all the ministers of 
Jesus Christ everywhere, true knowledge and under- 
standing of thy word ; and may they set it forth in 
their lives accordingly. Make them wise to win 
souls. Lord, call forth and send out many faithful 
laborers to the work of the ministry. Bring it to 
pass that the distant isles shall wait on thee, and the 
Gentiles come to thy light. 

Thanks be unto thee, O Lord God, for all thy 
goodness towards us. How multiplied are thy mer- 
cies every day ! How excellent is thy loving kind- 
ness ! We bless thee for all thy long-suffering and 
forbearance towards us. We bless thee for the in- 
finite mercies of redeeming love. We bless thee for 
the knowledge of thy salvation, and for the light of 
thy truth : for protection from every danger during 
the night, and provision for all our wants by day. 
Thou hast spread our table with food, and thou 
givest us every needful good. Accept these our 
prayers and our praises, which we offer up in and 
through Jesus Christ, our only mediator and advo- 
cate. Amen. 



WEDNESDAY MORNING. 91 



WEDNESDAY MORNING. 

Our Father, who art in heaven ! We bless thj 
name for the privilege of prayer. We are not wor- 
thy to approach thee ; for we have sinned against 
thee in times and ways without number ; and if thou 
shouldst call us into judgment for our offences, we 
must become speechless before thee, and every mouth 
be stopped. But, O Lord, encouraged by thy prom- 
ise, that thou art more ready to give the Holy Spirit 
to them that ask thee, than earthly parents are to 
give good gifts unto their children, we would come 
boldly to the throne of grace, and present our wants 
before thee, in the hope that thou wilt answer our 
petitions for the sake of Him whom thou always 
nearest. 

We desire to acknowledge thy goodness in contin- 
uing our lives, and preserving our healths to* the 
present moment. Thy love to us has been as un- 
ceasing as the flight of time. May gratitude ever 
dwell in our hearts, and praise flow from our lips. 
May prayer, as it is our highest privilege, ever be 
our delight : and while pursuing our earthly pilgrim- 
age to eternity, hold sweet communion with thee, O 
Lord. To thee may we flee in every hour of temp- 
tation or grief, and wilt thou show thyself the hearer 
of prayer. Let us be clothed with humility, and 
manifest this grace in all our intercourse with man- 
kind. May we seek after holiness, and learn of him 
who was meek and lowly of heart. May we con- 



92 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

sider ourselves as strangers and pilgrims here, and 
have our affections set on heaven. May we live 
above the world while we live in it ; and whatever 
our situation in life may be, though we should have 
but one talent, yet by a life of holiness may we do 
much to recommend the gospel of Christ. 

Extend thy compassions to all men. Have respect 
unto the Jews, the seed of Abraham thy friend. 
May they renounce their unbelief, and embrace the 
Saviour whom their fathers crucified. Enlighten the 
Gentile world with a knowledge of the truth ; and 
may the Sun of righteousness arise upon them with 
healing in his wings. Let the wilderness and the 
solitary place be glad, and the desert rejoice and 
blossom as the rose. 

Prepare us for all the events of this day ; for we 
know not what a day may bring forth. May we be 
willing to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, 
and follow Christ. Keep us from evil ; and espe- 
cially from sin : let it not have dominion over us. 

Impress thine image upon us, and as we are the 
monuments of thy mercy, so do thou make us the 
trophies of thy victorious grace. Write laws of 
gratitude upon our hearts for all thy goodness to us. 
Let not our hearts be haughty, nor our eyes lofty, 
and may we not think more highly of ourselves than 
we ought to think ; for God resisteth the proud, but 
giveth grace unto the humble. May thy blessing, 
O Lord, rest upon this family, and may all the mem- 
bers of it belong to the household of faith. Cleanse 
us, we beseech thee from our secret faults. Search 



WEDNESDAY MORNING. 93 

us, O God, and know our hearts ; try us, and know 
our thoughts, and see if there be any evil way in us, 
and lead us in the way everlasting. 

Look in mercy upon those who are visited with 
sickness and infirmity. May they bow with sub- 
mission under thy rod, knowing that the Judge of 
all the earth can only do right. May we remember 
those who are in bonds, as bound with them ; comfort 
all who mourn in Zion. The bruised reed thou 
wilt not break ; the smoking flax thou wilt not 
quench ; and a broken spirit and a contrite heart 
thou wilt not despise. 

Let those who go down to the sea, and do busi- 
ness in the great waters, remember that thy way is 
in the sea, and thy path in the great waters. Give 
the winds and the waves charge concerning them, 
and when they behold thy wonders in the great deep, 
may they bow down and worship him who rideth 
upon the whirlwind, and directeth the storm. Pre- 
serve them on the ocean, and bring them to their 
destined haven in peace and safety : may they all 
experience thy rich grace ; and by them may thy 
word run to and fro in the earth, and knowledge be 
increased. And may those who navigate our inland 
waters, receive the sympathy and prayers of thy 
people, and the time soon come when they shall not 
be required to desecrate thy holy day ; but may they 
have the privilege of sitting in the sanctuary, as thy 
people sit, and hearing as thy people hear. Enlarge 
the kingdom of the Prince of peace, and let the 



94 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

healing virtues of the Balm that is in Gilead be dif- 
fused as far as the curse of sin is found. 

We beseech thee, O Lord, to be with us, and grant 
us thy blessing to-day. In all our intercourse with 
our fellow men, may w 7 e exhibit the meekness and 
temper of Him who went about doing good, and may 
we strive to imitate him in all his imitable perfec- 
tions, and do to others as we would that they should 
do unto us. 

And now unto him who is able to keep us from 
falling, and to present us faultless before the throne 
of thy glory, be ascribed dominion and power, both 
now and forever. Amen. 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 

O thou, from whom cometh down every good and 
perfect gift ! Thy thoughts are not as our thoughts, 
nor thy ways as our ways ; for as the heavens are 
higher than the earth, so are thy ways higher than 
our ways, and thy thoughts than our thoughts. 
We rejoice that thou hast said — Let the wicked for- 
sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, 
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have 
mercy upon him ; and to our God, and he will abun- 
dantly pardon. We thank thee that thou hast de- 
signed that thy word shall be made mighty to the 
pulling down of the strong holds of sin, and that 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 95 

thou hast said — As the rain cometh down, and the 
snow from heaven, and retumeth not thither, but 
watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and 
bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread 
to the eater : so shall my word be that goeth forth 
out of my mouth ; it shall not return unto me void, 
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it 
shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it. 

Manifest thyself to us at this time as thou dost 
not to the world ; and let our communion be with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. We 
bless thee for thine infinite condescension to us, un- 
worthy creatures : for though thou art the high and 
lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, yet thou dwellest 
with him that is of an humble and a contrite heart, 
and trembleth at thy word. We acknowledge the 
purity and equity of thy laws, and the w r isdom of 
thy government. We bless thee for the bounties of 
thy providence, and the richness and freeness of thy 
salvation. O that men would praise the Lord for 
his goodness, and for his wonderful work to the chil- 
dren of men. But we have forsaken thee, the Foun- 
tain of living waters. We have abused thy gifts, 
despised thy goodness, and disobeyed thy commands. 
And we would repent of our sins, and seek thy for- 
giveness. May we always exhibit the humility 
which becomes the transgressors of thy law. Let us 
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed 
by the renewing of our minds, that we may prove 
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of 
God. 



96 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

Cause thy grace to dwell in the hearts of all thy 
people, O thou Shepherd of Israel. May they watch 
unto prayer against anger, pride and covetousness. 
May they look diligently, lest any fail of the grace 
of God ; lest any root of bitterness, springing up, 
trouble them, and thereby many be defiled. May 
their character be like the path of the just, that 
shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Let it 
be our constant inquiry — Lord, what wilt thou have 
us to do ? May we love thee with all our soul, and 
mind, and strength. Dispose us to submit to thy 
will ; and may a view of thine excellence make us 
suitably afraid. Give us a good hope through grace 
that our names are written in the book of thy re- 
membrance ; and may we be rooted and grounded 
in that faith by which we receive the atonement of 
the Messiah : for other foundation can no man lay 
than that which is laid, in Jesus Christ, and there is 
no other name given under heaven among men 
whereby we must be saved. Grant that we may see 
the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Enable us to ex- 
ercise at all times the spirit of hospitality. May we 
take pleasure in exchanging kindnesses between one 
another, and in supplying the wants of the stranger 
and the destitute. Lead us to do good and to com- 
municate, for with such sacrifices thou art well 
pleased. As we have freely received, so may we 
freely give. 

O Lord, bless those among us who are in the morn- 
ing of life. Preseve them from the dangers that 
surround them. Be thou their strong tower to which 



WEDNESDAY EVENING. 



97 



they may continually resort. Suffer them not to put 
off the claims of religion to what they vainly think 
a more convenient season ; lest they should be obli- 
ged to take up the lamentation, the isummer is past, 
the harvest is ended, and we are not saved. Bring 
multitudes of them into the household of faith ; and 
make many of them the honored instruments of con- 
veying the blessings of salvation to those who have 
never heard of the way of life. 

Be pleased, O Lord, to blot out our transgressions 
as a cloud, and our iniquities as a very thick cloud. 
May we daily die unto sin, and live unto holiness. 
Let us not be relying on a false hope, which shall be 
like the spider's web, when God taketh away the 
soul. But may we be so rooted and grounded in the 
faith, that we shall be able to give to every man that 
asketh us, a reason of the hope that is in us. 

We commend ourselves to thy kind care and pro- 
tection during the night. The darkness and the light 
are both alike to thee. May thine eye that never 
sleeps, keep watch over us : and thine arm that is 
never weary, be thrown around us. May we lie 
down, having our thoughts devoted to thee, and to 
the things that belong to our peace. Teach us to look 
on sleep, as the emblem of death ; and to seek that 
preparation of heart with which we should desire to 
meet the king of terrors. 

Hear our petition, O Lord, at this time ; and 
if we have asked amiss, wilt thou refuse it; and if in 
any thing we have failed in asking, do thou more than 
make up in granting, for Christ's sake. Amen. 
9 



98 FAMILY PRAYERS. 



THURSDAY MORNING. 

Almighty and everlasting God, unto whom all 
hearts are open, and from whom no secrets are hid ! 
draw graciously near to us while we attempt to draw 
near to thee in the way of thine appointment, and 
grant that we may come, as it were, into the pres- 
ence-chamber of the King of kings. Thou hast 
been round about us for good during the past night, 
and hast brought us in safety to see this morning's 
cheerful light. We bless thee for our creation and 
preservation ; but above all, for thine inestimable love 
in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus 
Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of 
glory. And we beseech thee, give us such a sense 
of all thy mercies, as shall make us unfeignedly 
thankful ; and that we may show forth thy praise, 
not only with our lips, but in our lives ; by giving 
up ourselves to thy service and by walking before 
thee in holiness and righteousness all our days. 

Do thou, O Lord, who knowest the frailty of our 
nature and the temptations which assail us, support 
us by the aid of thy Holy Spirit ; sanctify our 
hearts, restrain us from sin, and excite us to the per- 
formance of every duty to those around us and to 
thee. May we keep in our minds a lively remem- 
brance of that great day of the Lord, when we must 
render an account of our conduct, and be judged ac- 
cording to the deeds done in the body. Grant us 
thy grace and protection this day, and whilst we 



THURSDAY MORNING. 99 

live. Keep us in thy fear ; and make us diligent in 
business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Give us 
grace to walk uprightly in all our dealings ; direct us 
in all our ways ; and prosper us in the lawful busi- 
ness of our several stations. Defend us from all 
dangers and adversities ; and be pleased to take us, 
and our friends and relatives under thy merciful care 
and protection ; that we may be thy people, and that 
thou mayest be our God. 

Let thy blessing rest, O Lord, upon every mem- 
ber of this family. Grant us grace to discharge our 
respective duties faithfully. Bless the united heads 
of this household. May we train up those whom 
thou hast committed to our care in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord. May the young have the 
fear of God before their eyes, which is the beginning 
of wisdom. Save them from the misery which 
abused talents and wasted hours will bring, and let 
them not rashly rely upon their own strength. May 
they take heed, when they think they stand, that 
they do not fall. 

Bless the church and people in this place. Grant 
them to be strengthened with might in the inner 
man, that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith ; 
that, being rooted and grounded in love, they may 
be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the 
length and breadth, and height and depth of the love 
of Christ which passeth knowledge, that they may 
be filled with all the fullness of God. Give them 
grace to receive with meekness the engrafted word? 
which is able to make them wise unto salvation ; 



100 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. 
Have mercy upon the impenitent : alarm the care- 
less, and awaken them to righteousness. Open the 
eyes of the spiritually blind ; guide the inquiring ; 
pity those who are deceived ; be gracious to all who 
mourn for their sins, and give them that repentance 
which needeth not to be repented of. 

Prepare us, O Lord, for all the changes of this 
present world : may we know how to be abased and 
how to abound ; and learn, in whatsoever state we 
are, therewith to be content. Give us grace to cast 
away the works of darkness, and to put on the 
whole armor of light; to do justly, love mercy, and 
walk humbly with our God. May we have evidence 
of our adoption into thy family, and may thy Spirit 
bear witness with our spirit that we are thy children, 
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ of the 
heavenly inheritance. 

Make us duly thankful that thou hast brought us 
in safety to see the light of another day, and that 
we again have the opportunity of renewing our hum- 
ble sacrifice of prayer and praise. We beseech thee 
to incline our hearts unto thy testimonies, and to 
guide our steps in the way of thy precepts. Give 
us just views of thy most holy character, and of our 
obligations to thee, and to our fellow-men. Increase 
our faith, enliven our hope, and shed abroad thy love 
in our hearts. Give us grace to follow after peace 
with all men ; and may we have that charity which 
surTereth long and is kind ; which envieth not, is not 
easily provoked, and thinketh no evil. 



THURSDAY EVENING. 101 

Bestow upon us to-day, we beseech thee, all the 
grace we need, to enable us to withstand the temp- 
tations of the world, and the wiles of the adversary. 
Preserve us from sin and danger ; and may we spend 
each day as though it were our last, living with a wise 
and constant reference to the daj of final account. 

And when this corruptible shall have put on incor- 
ruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortali- 
ty, may we hear the welcome plaudit, Come ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world. And 
thine shall be all the praise forever. Amen. 



THURSDAY EVENING. 

O Lord God of our salvation ! Thou art the sus- 
tainer of all the ends of the earth ; thou givest us 
life, and breath, and all things richly to enjoy. Thy 
glory is above the heavens : thou hast created all 
things, and upholdest them with thine almighty 
hand. We have no merit of our own ; we w^ould 
approach thee in the new and living way, even 
through Jesus Christ, our days-man with God, to 
thank thee for the mercies of the day past, and hum- 
bly to ask for the continuance of thy goodness. 

We desire, O Lord, to acknowledge our unworthi- 

ness, and to confess that our sins, which are many, 

have been committed against the greatest light, the 

most endearing love, and the constant warnings of 
9* 



102 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

conscience. Give us grace, to repent of them in 
sincerity, and to forsake our evil ways, and return 
unto the Lord, that he may have mercy upon us, and 
to our. God, that he may abundantly pardon. We 
would desire to confide in the atoning merits of thy 
Son, and to look to him as our Advocate with the 
Father : may we be accepted in him, and have re- 
demption through his blood, and realize that he is 
the end of the law for righteousness to every one 
that believeth. 

We rejoice that thou hast manifested thy love to 
our fallen race, in that, while we were yet sinners, 
Christ died for us, and that salvation is offered to all 
through faith in him. Herein is love indeed ; not 
that we loved God, but that thou hast loved us, and 
hast given him to be a propitiation for our sins. 
Grant that we may be united to him by a living 
faith : and what things have been gain to us, may we 
count them but loss, that we may win Christ, and 
be found in him, not having our own righteousness, 
which is of the law, but the righteousness which is 
by faith in Christ : and forgetting the things which 
are behind, may we press toward the mark for the 
prize of the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus. 

Graciously regard all the sons and daughters of 
affliction around us. Be thou a Father to the father- 
less, and a judge of the widows. Loose the bands 
of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, give redemption 
to the captive, and let the oppressed go free. Pity 
the sick, and heal their diseases. Feed the hungry, 
and clothe the naked. And may we remember that 









THURSDAY EVENING. 103 

if any man seeth his brother have need, and shutteth 
up his bowels of compassion from him, the love of 
God cannot dwell in his heart. 

We pray for thy blessing upon this family ; may 
our youth be trained up in the nurture and admoni- 
tion of the Lord, and walk in wisdom's ways, which 
are ways of pleasantness, and in her paths, which 
are paths of peace, Pour thy blessing upon our 
seed, and thy Spirit upon our offspring ; that our 
sons may be as plants growing in thy vineyard, and 
our daughters be adorned with the ornament of a 
christian spirit. Command thy blessing upon all the 
rising generation. May they remember their Crea- 
tor in the days of their youth ; may they seek thee 
while thou mayest be found, and call upon thee 
while thou art near. Help those who are advanced 
to riper years, to do with their might what their 
hands find to do, remembering that the day is far 
spent, and the night, cometh, in which no man can 
work. And when their earthly house of this taber- 
nacle is dissolved, give them a building of God, a 
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 

Deliver us, we pray thee, from the dominion of 
sin, and save us by the working of regeneration, and 
the renewing of the Holy Ghost. May our lives 
and health be precious in thy sight, and enable us to 
commit our way unto the Lord, that he may direct 
our steps. We bless thee for the protection and 
blessings of this day ; for the food and raiment we 
have had ; for the comfort and luxuries we have en- 
joyed. May we use the good things of this life as 



104 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

not abusing them, and be temperate in all things. 
May the return of night remind us of the night of 
death, and that it will not be long before we shall be 
called to close our eyes on all below, and our bodies 
return to dust, and our spirits to God who gave them. 
Prepare us for our great last change, and may we so 
live, that to live will be gain, but to die and be with 
Christ will be far better. Preserve us from evil, and 
defend our persons, dwellings, and friends. 

Fold us, O God, in the arms of thy paternal pro- 
vidence this night. May we sleep in peace and re- 
ceive strength for another day. Let every coming 
day be marked by some victory obtained over the 
world, by some sin forsaken, by some spiritual grace 
acquired. And then, when our last day shall come, 
and we rest in the sleep of death, thou wilt watch 
over our slumbering dust ; and on the bright and 
glorious morning of the resurrection, we shall arise 
and be admitted through thy grace into that other 
world, where there is no need of the sun or of the 
moon, but where thou, the Lord, art an everlasting 
light. 

And now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisi- 
ble, the only living and true God, be rendered all 
praise and glory forever. Amen. 









FRIDAY MORNING. 105 



FRIDAY MORNING. 

O Lord ! thou who art more ready to hear than 
we are to ask, look down, we beseech thee, upon us, 
thy dependent creatures, and accept the renewal of 
our morning sacrifice of prayer and praise : and let 
thy blessing which is life, and thy loving-kindness 
which is better than life, rest upon us. Give us to 
feel that thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, 
a God doing wonders. Impress our minds with a 
just and lively sense of thy goodness to us. We 
thank thee that our lives have been spared, and our 
health preserved ; that we are kept in safety through 
the silent watches of the night past, and are brought 
to see the light of another day. Do thou who hast 
brought us safely to the beginning of this day, defend 
us from its perils, and grant that all that we do may 
be done with an eye single to thy glory. 

Let our prayer, we beseech thee, come before thee 
as incense. We trust not in our own righteousness, 
but in the merits of his blood who was manifested 
to take away our sins. We are not worthy to appear 
before thee, nor to ask or receive the smallest favor. 
Enter not into judgment with us, sinful creatures, for 
if thou shouldst be strict to mark iniquity, we could 
render no excuse for our sin ; for in thy sight shall 
no man living be justified. We adore thee as the 
giver of all good. The eyes of all wait upon thee ; 
thou openest thy hand and suppliest all their wants. 
Thy mercies fail not, but are new every morning. 



106 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

What shall we render unto thee. We thank thee for 
any evidence we have that we are renewed in the 
spirit and temper of our minds, and have passed 
from death unto life. May we not sleep over our 
own condition and the condition of those around us, 
as do others. And let us who are of the day be 
sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love, 
and for an helmet the hope of salvation ; rejoicing 
that God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to ob- 
tain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we 
should live together with him. 

Wilt thou bless him whom thou hast set over us 
in the Lord. Make him a faithful and devoted ser- 
vant of Christ. Give him strength i n the inward 
and outward man, for all the labors and trying scenes 
he is called to endure. Give him a double portion 
of thy Spirit, and may his ministry be attended with 
a great ingathering of souls to thy kingdom. Bless 
thy church and people in this place. May they be a 
peculiar people, abounding in good works, and let 
their light so shine before men, that others seeing 
their good works, they may glorify thee. 

We beseech thee, O Lord, to preserve us from all 
self-righteousness, and vain reliance on the merits of 
what we do. May we never forget that by grace 
we are saved, through faith, and that not of our- 
selves, it is the gift of God. Give us, we beseech 
thee, a right view of that living faith in Christ which 
all possess who have passed from death unto life. 
May we ever remember that in Jesus Christ neither 






FRIDAY MORNING. 



107 



circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, 
bat faith which works by love, and purifies the heart, 
and overcomes the world. May we not be deceived, 
by thinking to rely upon Christ, while we neglect to 
repent of sin and forsake it ; but remember that it 
will be useless for us to call him, Lord, Lord, 
while we do not the things which he commands. 
Thou hast raised us to heaven in point of privilege ; 
let us not sink to perdition from so great a height. 
May we never be weary in well-doing, for in due 
time we shall reap if we faint not. But may we 
press toward the mark for the prize of the high call- 
ins of God in Christ Jesus. 

May we engage in the business and active pursuits 
of this day with a just sense of thy overruling provi- 
dence, knowing that except the Lord build the house, 
they labor in vain who build it : except the Lord keep 
the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is 
vain for us to rise up early, and sit up late, and eat 
the bread of carefulness : for without thy blessing 
our labor will not prosper. Take us, we beseech 
thee, most merciful Parent, under thy guidance and 
protection. Keep us ever mindful of thy presence 
and of the one thing needful. Give us to drink of 
that water, of which if a man drink he shall never 
thirst. Forgive us, O Lord for all our past ingrati- 
tude and vileness, and for every departure from the 
path of rectitude and virtue, and give us free forgive- 
ness in the blood of Christ : in whose name we ask 
and offer all : and to whom, with thee and the Holy 
Ghost be present and everlasting praise. Amen. 



108 FAMILY PRAYERS, 



FRIDAY EVENING. 

Most merciful God ! Thou art, and beside thee 
there is no God. Thou art the first and the last ; 
the Alpha and Omega : the beginning and the end 
of all things. The gods of the heathen are a vanity 
and a lie : they have mouths, but they speak not ; 
eyes have they, but they see not ; they have ears, 
but they hear not : they that make them are like 
unto them ; so is every one that trusteth in them. 
We adore thee as the only proper object of supreme 
worship and religious adoration. 

We rejoice in thine omniscience and omnipresence. 
Thou compassest our path and our lying down, and 
art acquainted with all our ways. We cannot go 
from thy Spirit, nor flee from thy presence ; if we 
ascend up into heaven, thou art there ; if we make 
our bed in hell, behold thou art there ; if we take 
the wings of the morning, and dwell in the utter- 
most parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead 
us, and thy right hand shall hold us. If we say, 
Surely the darkness shall cover us ; even the night 
shall be light about us. Yea, the darkness hideth 
not from thee ; but the darkness and the light are 
both alike to thee. 

Thankful for divine protection during another day, 
we come before thee to pray for a continuance of 
that protection during the night. Give thine angels 
charge concerning us, and let them keep their watch 
about our beds. Preserve us from the pestilence 






FRIDAY EVENING. 109 

that walketh in darkness, and from dangers seen and 
unseen. Bless, we beseech thee, all the families in 
this place. May a family altar be established in 
every house, and the morning and evening sacrifice 
offered thereon. May we remember that the wicked 
shall be turned into hell, with all the families that 
forget God. May the lives thou hast spared be con- 
secrated to thy service, and may we walk worthy 
the vocation wherewith thou hast called us. Make 
us consistent in our lives, bearing in mind, that 
we are exerting an influence by our example on all 
around us. Let us so live that our example may 
be beneficial, and tend only to lead men to embrace 
the religion of the cross. We have sinned against 
heaven and before thee ; but remember not our sins 
against us, O Lord, and visit not our transgressions 
with the rod, nor our iniquities with stripes. May 
the love of Christ constrain us ; and as he loved us, 
may we also love one another. In all our intercourse 
with the world, may we follow after that charity 
w T hich is the bond of perfectness, and the fulfilling 
of the whole law. Have mercy upon all who are 
erring and straying from thy righteous ways, having 
no hope, and without God in the world. May the 
Spirit convince them of their evil ways, and fetch 
them home to dwell among the flocks of thy pasture. 
Help us, O Lord, to love our neighbor as we love 
ourselves, and to perform faithfully every duty which 
we owe to others. Preserve us from envy, selfish- 
ness and pride, and from all manner of uncharitable- 

ness. Give us grace to bear with patience and a 
10 



110 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

forgiving spirit the faults of men, and the injuries of 
those that may do us wrong, not rendering evil for 
evil, but endeavoring to overcome evil with good. 
Let the spirit which was in our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
his love and forbearance and long-suffering, be also 
in us. Though pains or sorrows should be our por- 
tion, let us always rejoice in the good and prosperity 
of others, and be ever ready to praise thee for thy 
goodness, and for all the benefits bestowed upon our 
fellow-men. Especially give us grace to rejoice in 
their hopes of salvation ; in their repentance, faith, 
and obedience to thy holy word. 

We beseech thee, O Lord, mercifully to accept 
this our evening sacrifice. Give us hearts to be 
thankful for all thy goodness, and especially for the 
favors of the day past ; and we humbly ask for thy 
protection through this night. Preserve us, we pray 
thee, from every evil ; refresh our bodies with need- 
ful rest ; and may we rise in the morning with thank- 
ful hearts, disposed to do thy will. We ask these 
things in the name of our only Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

And to the God of our salvation, the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost, be ascribed the kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. 
Amen. 



SATURDAY MORNING. Ill 



SATURDAY MORNING. 

O eternal God ! mighty in power, and of majesty 
incomprehensible; whom the heaven of heavens can- 1 
not contain, and who yet, in thy wonderful mercy, 
dost vouchsafe to hear the prayers of those whom 
Christ has redeemed from sin and death, look in 
mercy upon us the chief of sinners. Grant us the 
aid of thy Spirit that we may approach thee with hu- 
mility, — with lips unfeigned, and with hearts sincere, 
and in the name of Him who died for our sins, and 
rose again for our justification. May our reliance be 
on his merits, and on thy promise of pardon and 
peace, through faith in him. Help us to pray ac- 
cording to thy will, that we may obtain mercy, and 
find grace to help us in every time of need. Let 
the words of our mouth and the desires of our heart 
be acceptable in thy sight. 

And wilt thou impress upon our minds a deep 
and permanent sense of thy goodness. Abundant 
are the mercies, temporal and spiritual, which are 
our happy portion. Through many dangers and 
deaths, seen and unseen, hast thou conducted us 
from the commencement of our lives to the present 
time. Many blessings do we enjoy, of which others 
are deprived. What shall we render unto thee, O 
Lord, for all thy benefits ! Help us to take the cup 
of salvation, and to call upon thy name, as the Giver 
of all good, and our only refuge in time of need. 
May thy goodness which sustained us through the 



112 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

silent watches of the night, be our guide and protec- 
tion during the active labors of the present day. 
Defend us from sin, and from every danger. May 
all our conduct be ordered by thy grace, and be 
righteous in thy sight. 

Thou hast taught us to make prayers and suppli- 
cations, and to give thanks for all mankind ; and we 
humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of 
men, that thou would be pleased to make thy ways 
known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations. 
They are the work of thy hand, and the creatures of 
thy care : may they know that thou hast so loved 
them, as to give thy Son to die for their sins, and 
may they rejoice in thy salvation. 

We ask for the continuance of thy blessing upon 
this our favored country. Thou hast distinguished 
us by unnumbered mercies, and given us a great 
name among the nations of the earth. We would 
call to remembrance thy mercies, which have ever 
been of old. We have heard with our ears, and our 
fathers have declared unto us the noble works which 
thou didst in their days, and in the old time before 
them. Be with us, O God, and make us a nation 
fearing thee. Be thou our safeguard and defence. 
May salvation be to us for walls ; our officers be 
peace, and our exactors righteousness : surely trust- 
ing in thy defence, may we not fear the power of 
any adversaries. Bless the government and all the 
people of the United States, and of this State espe- 
cially in which we live, with wisdom, righteousness 
and peace. Give counsel to our counsellors, and 



SATURDAY MORNING. 113 

teach our senators wisdom. Bless all who are set 
in authority over us, and so guide their counsels and 
strengthen their hands, that the hearts of the diso- 
bedient may be turned to the wisdom of the just, 
and our people serve thee in quietness and peace. 

And grant, O Lord, that a sense of the many and 
great blessings which, as a people and a nation, we 
enjoy, may engage our hearts and lives in the ways 
of thy laws, and in the works of thy command- 
ments. May we not forget that it is thou who 
makest us to differ from others. May we not be 
high-minded, but fear. Preserve us from a vain 
confidence of boasting ; from self-dependence, and 
from party dissensions. May we not use our liberty 
for a cloak of maliciousness, but follow after chari- 
ty, and the things which make for peace. Help us 
to enjoy the bounty which thy hand bestows, with 
temperance, sobriety and thankfulness to thee. De- 
fend us from pride, selfishness, and love of the world. 
Dispose us in all things to give that measure to 
others which we exact from them, and to live sober- 
ly, righteously and godly in this present world. 

We ask too, for thy blessing upon all our churches 
and religious institutions, that they may be conform- 
ed to thy will, and instruments of promoting thy 
truth. Give them grace to look with a single eye 
to thy glory, and to the best interests of mankind. 
May they follow after the things wherewith one may 
edify another. Let nothing be done through strife 
or vain-glory ; and let there be no divisions among us, 
but help us rather to stand fast in one spirit, with 
10* 



114 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

one mind, striving together for the faith of the gos- 
pel. May thy truth spread, and godliness increase 
throughout the earth, and all who profess the faith 
of Christ walk worthy of their vocation. Enlarge 
the borders of the Redeemer's kingdom, till to the 
name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and all the 
ends of the earth shall rejoice to call him Lord. 

Hear our prayers, O Lord, and behold us of this 
family with thy love and favor. Enlighten our 
minds with the truths of the blessed gospel ; graft 
in our hearts the love of thy name ; increase in us 
true religion ; nourish us with all goodness, and of 
thy great mercy guide and bless us in all we do, that 
in this world we may live to thy glory, and in the 
world to come enjoy eternal life, through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. 



SATURDAY EVENING. 

O God, our Father who art in heaven ! who dost 
from thy throne behold all that dwell upon the earth, 
and hast the hearts and the wants of all thy creatures 
before thee; we desire to come into thy presence, and 
to make our requests known unto thee by prayer and 
supplication. But wherewithal shall we come before 
thee, O Lord, or bow ourselves in the presence of 
the Most High ? We would come in the only pre- 
vailing name of thy blessed Son, in whom thou hast 
declared thyself well pleased. In the plenitude of 



SATURDAY EVENING. 115 

thy mercy, thou hast sent him into the world, not to 
condemn the world, but to save it, and hast made 
him unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctifl- 
cation and redemption. In his name, O thou Father 
of our spirits, and trusting in his merits, do we pre- 
sent ourselves before thee, beseeching thee to have 
respect unto the prayer of thy servants. Hear thou 
in heaven, thy dwelling-place, and when thou near- 
est, for Christ's sake, answer and forgive. 

Assist us, mercifully, O Lord, in these our suppli- 
cations and prayers, that we may approach thee with 
reverence, and obtain our requests. Dispose our 
hearts and direct our wavs towards the attainment 
of everlasting salvation. In all the changes, temp- 
tations, and other trials of this mortal state, may we 
ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready 
help. May we be of the number of thy peculiar 
people, zealous of good works, doing justly, loving 
mercy, walking humbly with thee, and adorning the 
doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. 

Make us thankful, O God, for all the blessings 
which we enjoy, both temporal and spiritual. Help 
us to discern the hand of thy providence in all that 
befalls us. In prosperity and adversity ; whether 
we abound or suffer need ; may we never forget that 
the Lord rules ; that thou art righteous in all thy 
ways, and good to all thy creatures. 

We desire of thee, O Lord God, our heavenly 
Father, who art the giver of all goodness, to send 
thy grace unto us and' to all people, that we may 
worship thee, serve thee, and obey thee, as we ought 



116 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

to do. And we beseech thee to send us all things 
that are needful, both for our souls and bodies : and 
that thou wilt be merciful unto us, and forgive us 
our sins ; and be pleased to save and defend us in 
all dangers, and keep us from all sin and wickedness, 
from our spiritual enemies, and from everlasting 
death. 

Make us diligent in using all the means of grace. 
Give us ears to hear the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, 
and hearts to be doers of the word, and not hearers 
only. May w r e be faithful in searching the Scrip- 
tures ; and may thy word do us good, as it doth the 
upright in heart. 

During the week which is now near its close, 
many of our fellow-men have departed this life, and 
entered into their eternal state : we yet survive, 
monuments of thy forbearing mercy. While our life 
is continued, may we live to thee. Prepare us 
for the duties, and for the right observance of the 
Lord's day which is approaching, that we may sanc- 
tify it as holy unto thee, and a season sacred to thy 
worship. Be with the assemblies of thy worshipping 
people ; meet them in mercy, and visit them with 
thy salvation. May all who seek thee be joyful and 
glad in thee, and find by happy experience, that one 
day in thy courts is better than a thousand spent in 
vanity and sin. 

May the close of each day remind us of that night 
near at hand, in which no man can work ; and stimu- 
late us to do, with all our might, what thou hast ap- 
pointed our hand to do. Protect us, O Lord, this 



SATURDAY EVENING. 117 

night, that no evil may befall us, nor plague come 
nigh our dwelling ; watch over us for good, and keep 
us in safety. May we go to our rest in charity with 
all men ; and may we rise refreshed, disposed and 
strengthened to do thy will. We ask this for Christ's 
sake. And unto thee, O God, who art able to do 
for us abundantly more than we can ask or think, be 
glory in the church, by Jesus Christ, throughout all 
ages, world without end. Amen. 



OCCASIONAL PRAYERS, 



FOR MONTHLY CONCERT. 

Our Father who art in heaven ! we adore thee 
as the Creator of all, and as the rightful sovereign of 
the universe. Thou hast looked upon a world lying 
in wickedness and exposed to everlasting death, and 
hast made provision for its salvation. We thank 
thee that an atonement has been made for our sins, 
and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole 
world. 

Thou, Lord, didst command the primitive disciples, 
and through them, all who should believe, to preach 
the gospel to every creature. We have been slow 
to obey this precept ; we have loved too much our 
own ease, our own comfort, and our worldly treas- 
ures ; we have not denied ourselves, nor have we 
labored and prayed for the conversion of the world 
as we ought; we have not made it manifest that we 
loved our neighbor as ourselves. We pray that thou 
wilt forgive our past unfaithfulness, and impress our 
minds more deeply with a sense of our obligation to 



120 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

do what we can for the extension of Christ's king- 
dom. 

We thank thee for the promise that the kingdoms 
of this world shall become the kingdoms of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — that the stone that 
smote the image shall become a great mountain 
and fill the earth — that the day is coming when the 
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as 
the waters cover the sea — that thou wilt give thy 
Son the heathen for an inheritance, and the utter- 
most parts of the earth for a possession, and that he 
shall see the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. 

We rejoice in the evidence we have of thy faith- 
fulness, and that thou hast opened the hearts of thy 
people to feel for the heathen, and inclined so many 
to forsake their home and their country, and to go 
far hence to the Gentiles. We thank thee because 
thou hast prospered the missionary enterprise. Thou 
hast caused thousands to cast away their idols, and 
to listen to the Gospel of Christ. We bless thee 
for the establishment of so many schools for the ben- 
efit of heathen children — that so many of them can 
read thy word — that the Bible has been translated 
into so many languages, and that so many copies 
have been distributed ; that so many churches' have 
been gathered, and that so many souls have been 
brought out of darkness into light. For these things 
we bless thee. It is the Lord's doings, and marvel- 
lous in our eyes. 

We pray that thou wilt continue to bless the in- 
strumentality of thy people until Jesus shall reign 



FOR A YOUNG CONVERT. 121 

Mherever the sun does his successive circles run. 
Pour out thy spirit on the churches in christian lands, 
and make them more prayerful and more liberal. 
Bless the missionaries of the cross ; comfort them 
in all their trials ; strengthen them for every good 
work ; and make them faithful unto death. Pour 
out thy Spirit upon missionary churches ; keep the 
members thereof from falling into sin, and from 
bringing a reproach upon the cause of Christ. Bless 
the children belonging to missionary schools ; may 
they acquire the elements of useful knowledge, and 
understand the sacred scriptures. We pray for their 
conversion from sin to holiness, and that they may 
be a generation devoted to thy service. We beseech 
thee, O Lord, to give efficacy to the means used for 
the conversion of the world. Let the day soon 
come when thy name and praise shall be known 
from the rising to the setting sun. 

We ask these favors, not because we are worthy, 
nor because those for whom we pray are worthy, but 
we ask them that Jesus Christ may be honored, and 
thy name glorified. Grant our requests, and to the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be everlasting praises. 
Amen. 



FOR A YOUNG CONVERT. 

Blessed God! In the midst of ten thousand 
snares and dangers, which surround me from without 
11 



122 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and from within, permit me to look up unto thee witfy 
my humble entreaty, that thou wouldst deliver me 
from them that rise up against me, and that thine 
eyes may be upon me for good. When sloth and 
indolence are ready to seize me, awaken me from 
that idle dream, with lively and affectionate views 
of that invisible and eternal world to which 1 am 
tending. Remind me of what infinite importance 
it is, that I diligently improve those transient mo- 
ments, which thou hast allotted to me as the time of 
my preparation for it. 

When sinners entice me, may I not consent. 
May holy converse with God give me a disrelish for 
the converse of those who are strangers to thee, and 
who would separate my soul from thee. May I hon- 
or them that fear the Lord ; and walking with such 
wise and holy men, may I find I am daily advancing 
in wisdom and holiness. Quicken me, O Lord, by 
their means, that by thou mayest also quicken others. 
Make me the happy instrument of enkindling and 
animating the flame of divine love in their breasts ; 
and may it catch from heart to heart, and grow every 
moment in its progress. 

Guard me, O Lord, from the love of sensual 
pleasure. May I seriously remember, that to be car- 
nally-minded is death. May it please thee, therefore, 
to purify and refine my soul by the influences of 
thine Holy Spirit, that I may always shun unlawful 
gratifications more solicitously than others pursue 
them ; and that those indulgences of animal nature 
which thou hast allowed, and which the constitution 



FOR A YOUNG CONVERT. 123 

of things renders necessary, may be soberly and 
moderately used. May I still remember the superior 
dignity of my spiritual and intelligent nature, and 
may the pleasures of the man and the Christian be 
sought as my noblest happiness. May my soul rise 
on the wings of holy contemplation, to the regions 
of invisible glory ; and may I be endeavoring to form 
myself, under the influences of divine grace, for the 
entertainments of those angelic spirits that live in 
thy presence ; in a happy incapacity of those gross 
delights, by which spirits dwelling in flesh are so of- 
ten ensnared, and in which they so often lose the 
memory of their high original, and of those noble 
hopes which alone are proportionable to it. 

Give me, O Lord, to know the station in which 
thou hast fixed me, and steadily to pursue the duties 
of it. But deliver me from those excessive cares of 
this world, which would so engross my time and my 
thoughts, that the one thing needful should be for- 
gotten. May my desires after worldly possessions 
be moderated, by considering their uncertain and un- 
satisfying nature ; and while others are laying up 
treasures on earth, may I be rich towards God. May 
I never be busy to attend to those great affairs which 
lie between thee and my soul ; never be so engrossed 
with the concerns of time as to neglect the interests 
of eternity. May I pass through earth with my 
heart and hopes set upon heaven, and feel the attrac- 
tive influence stronger and stronger, as I approach 
still nearer and nearer to that desirable centre, till 
the happy moment come when every earthly object 



124 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

shall disappear from my view, and the shining glories 
of the heavenly world shall fill my improved and 
strengthened sight, which shall then be cheered with 
that which would now overwhelm me. Amen. 



FOR A DAY OF THANKSGIVING. 

O God, thou art very great ! Thou art clothed 
with honor and majesty. Thou coverest thyself 
with light as with a garment ; and thou walkest up- 
on the wings of the wind. When we reflect upon 
thy greatness and glory, we are filled with wonder at 
the vastness of thy condescension : for thou stoopest 
even to behold the things which are in heaven* 
What then is man, that thou art mindful of him ; or 
the son of man, that thou visitest him ? 

We rejoice that we are under the control of a Be- 
ing who is not only almighty, but perfectly righteous, 
and wise, and good ; that all things in our world, are 
appointed and arranged by thy wisdom and goodness ; 
that thy providence numbers the very hairs of our 
heads, and that a sparrow falleth not to the ground, 
without the notice of our heavenly Father. 

Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. We bless 
thee for personal mercies. If we are renewed, it is 
by thy Spirit. If we are justified, it is freely by thy 
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 
It is in thee we live, and move, and have our being. 



FOR THANKSGIVING DAY. 125 

Thy goodness has been always near us, to hear our 
complaints, to sooth our sorrow, and to command de- 
liverance for us. And numberless are the instances 
of loving-kindness and of tender mercy with which 
thou hast crowned our lives, and the remembrance 
of which will cause us to strike our golden harps 
anew, when we mingle with those who dwell in thy 
house above, and are still praising thee. 

We thank thee for relative benefits ; for blessings on 
our families, on our churches, on our country. We 
confess that we are not worthy of the least of all thy 
mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast 
showed unto thy servants. Sins of every kind and 
every degree, have reigned among us ; have spread 
through all ranks and conditions of men ; and con- 
tinued, notwithstanding all warnings and corrections; 
and if thou hadst dealt with us after our sins, or re- 
warded us according to our iniquities, we should long 
ago have had no name, nor place, among the nations 
of the earth. 

We would call upon our souls, and all within us to 
bless thy holy name for thy great goodness in per- 
mitting us to behold this joyous anniversary. Thou 
hast done great things for us whereof we are glad. 
Thou hast given us rains, and fruitful seasons ; Thou 
hast filled us with the finest of the wheat ; our gar- 
ners have been affording all manner of store ; our 
oxen have been strong to labor ; our sheep have 
brought forth thousands and tens of thousands. Thou 
hast spread thy wing, and sheltered us from the pes- 
tilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction 
11* 



126 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

that wasteth at noon-day. Civil discord has not 
raged in our land ; our shores have not been invaded ; 
we have not heard the confused noise of warriors? 
nor seen garments rolled in blood — it has not come 
nigh us. Our enemies have often threatened to 
swallow us up, but the Lord has been on our side, 
and they have not prevailed against us. 

God is the Lord who hath showed us light. May 
we never convert our blessings into instruments of 
provocation, by making them the means of nourishing 
pride and presumption, wantonness and intemper- 
ance ; and compel thee to complain — Do ye thus 
requite the Lord, O foolish people, and unwise ? Is 
not he thy Father, that hath bought thee ? Hath he 
not made thee, and established thee ? 

For this purpose meet with us in thy house ; and 
may the goings of our God and our King be seen in 
the sanctuary. Be with the preacher, and with the 
hearers ; and let the words of his mouth, and the 
meditation of their hearts be acceptable in thy sight, 
O Lord, our strength, and our Redeemer. May 
public instruction awaken the ardor of our feelings ; 
may our gratitude not only be lively, but practical 
and permanent. And by all thy mercies, may we 
present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and accep- 
table unto thee, which is our reasonable service. 

Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in 
strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto 
the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye 
his hosts ; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 
Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his 
dominion ; bless the Lord, O my soul. Amen. 



FOR FAST DAY. 127 



FOR FAST DAY. 

O God, thou hast established thy throne in the 
heavens, and thy kingdom ruleth over all. We de- 
sire to approach thee with such a sense of thy holi- 
ness as Isaiah had when he said, Wo is me, for I am 
a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people 
of unclean lips. Our iniquities have been great, but 
thy mercy in prolonging our lives to the present time, 
has been greater. 

The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places ; 
and we have a goodly heritage. We have been per- 
mitted to live under the administration of mild and 
equitable laws. We have enjoyed civil and religious 
liberty. We have had the sacred scriptures from the 
beginning in our own language. We have been dis- 
tinguished from many of the nations of the earth, by 
the number of the blessings we have received. Thy 
mercies have been great, and it becometh us on this 
occasion to abase ourselves before thee, and confess 
our ingratitude and ill desert. We are a sinful na- 
tion, a seed of evil doers. The whole head is sick 
and the whole heart is faint ; from the crown of the 
head, even to the sole of the foot, there is no sound- 
ness, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. 

We acknowledge that we have been deeply guilty. 
We have disobeyed thy commands, and often neg- 
lected the duties required. Pride has encompassed 
us about as a chain. We have been discontented, and 
have often found fault with the allotments of thy 



128 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

providence. We have placed our affections upon the 
world ; and the love of money, which is the root of 
all evil, has abounded throughout the land. We have 
profaned thy sabbaths, undervalued the ordinances 
of the gospel, and lived unmindful of the object for 
which we were created. 

We desire, O Lord, that thou wilt at this time 
give us clear views of sin ; may we see ourselves in 
some sense as thou dost see us. We would fall down 
before thee — we would lay our hands upon our 
mouths, and our mouths in the dust, and say unclean ! 
unto us, O Lord, belongeth shame and confusion of 
face. We cannot justify ourselves, nor offer any ex- 
cuse for the least of our transgressions. Wilt thou 
forgive our sins,' pardon all our iniquities, and purify 
our hearts. We rely solely upon the merits of 
Christ ; we plead his sufferings and death, and are 
encouraged, by what he has done, to come to the 
mercy seat, and ask for the pardon of our sins. 

We would not confess our sins with our mouths, 
but in our hearts ; we would cheerfully forsake them 
and turn from every evil way, and hereafter live so- 
berly, righteously, and godly in this evil world. Let 
this be such a fast as thou hast chosen ; a day to 
loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy 
burdens, and to let the oppressed go free. 

Have mercy upon all the inhabitants of this land. 
Stay the. progress of sin in all its forms ; and may 
all the people fear God and keep his commandments. 
Rule in the hearts of our rulers ; teach our sena- 
tors wisdom, and may all who hold places of trust 



FOR AN AGED PERSON. 129 

and power be honest, conscientious and faithful ; 
may they discharge their various duties having the 
judgment day in view. Let party spirit cease. Let 
thy children be of one heart and of one mind, and 
righteousness and truth prevail 

We pray thee to bless the labor of our hands du- 
ring the ensuing year ; prosper us in all our lawful 
pursuits. Let the voice of health be heard in our 
habitations. May those who are young, give thee 
their hearts, and remember their Creator in the days 
of their youth. 

Above all, we ask for the descent of the Holy 
Spirit, to convince us of sin, of righteousness, and of 
a judgment to come. Let our times be times of re- 
freshing from the presence of the Lord. 

Our prayer is before thee, O Lord ; deal not with 
us according to our deserts. Hear us for the sake 
of Christ ; in his name we present our requests, and 
to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be everlasting 
praises. Amen. 



TO BE USED BY AN AGED PERSON. 

O Thou who hast been the refuge and the dwell- 
ing place of thy people in all generations. As thou 
hast been my father's God, wilt thou be my God, 
and guide unto death. Thou didst watch over me 
in the helplessness of infancy ; thou didst protect 
me in the slippery paths of youth ; and thou didst 



130 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

keep me while engaged in the business of riper years. 
Now thy servant is old and grey-headed. I am still 
dependent on thee for temporal and spiritual mercies. 
My strength is diminishing, and I am descending 
the hill of life, and must soon sleep the sleep of death. 
May I ever realize that my days are few, that the 
last sands of my life are running out, that my sun is 
declining, and that soon the day of life will end. 

O Lord, forsake me not, when the close of life is 
at hand ; preserve me from danger, and lead me 
gently down to the house appointed for all the living. 
Let me have a clearer sense of my sinfulness, and 
may the Saviour be increasingly precious to my soul. 
May my faith be stronger, my love more constant, 
my humility more Christ-like, and my last days my 
best days. I desire to wait patiently until my 
change shall come ; let me continue to serve thee as 
long as I live ; and wilt thou at last bring me to the 
grave like a shock of corn fully ripe. Hear my fee- 
ble petition, and keep me as the apple of thine eye, 
and all the glory shall be given to Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, now and forever. Amen. 



FOR A SICK PERSON. 

O thou infinitely great and glorious God, thou 
killest and makest alive. Thou woundest, and thy 
hands make whole ; thou bringest down to the 



FOR A SICK PERSON. 131 

grave, and bringest back again. Thou doest accord- 
ing to thy will in the armies of heaven, and among 
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay thine 
hand, or say unto thee, what doest thou ? Yet right- 
eous art thou in all thy ways, and holy in all thy 
works. Even when thou afflictest and causest trou- 
ble and heaviness to fall upon us, it is that we may 
learn righteousness from thy judgments, and receive 
profit from thy correction. Wherefore, though thou 
hast now visited our house with sickness, and 
art calling us to humiliation for our sins, yet we 
would still speak good of thy name, and love and 
bless thee. We desire at this season to remember 
all the past mercies with which thou hast been 
pleased to bless us and our household. God forbid 
that our present grief should make us unmindful of 
the constant benefits we have enjoyed. How long 
has each of our family lain down and risen up, gone 
out and come in, in health, strength, and peace ! 
How long has the candle of Lord shone upon us 
without intermission ! For these multiplied favors, 
blessed, O Lord, be thy good and holy name ! since 
the smallest of benefits is more than we deserve, 
and the sharpest affliction less. For to us, on ac- 
count of our transgressions, is most justly due indig- 
nation and wrath, tribulation and anguish. Where- 
fore then should living men complain, men and trans- 
gressors, for the punishment of their sins ? Shall we 
receive so much good at the hand of the Lord, and 
shall we not receive evil ? patiently and contentedly 
receive evil also ? This temper we know, O Lord, is 



132 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

our bounden duty : O form it in us. And as, in 
great compassion to us, thou hast opened a way of 
relief for us under every trouble, by directing, com- 
manding, and encouraging us, in all our afflictions, to 
pour out our complaints unto thee, and to tell thee 
of all we fear and feel ; to thee, O Father of mer- 
cies, do we we make our supplication at this time. 
O Lord, be not far from us. In entire submission 
to thy most wise and holy will, do we now earnestly 
pray for that person whose sickness fills us with so 
much concern. O look upon him [or her] in his 
low estate ; suffer not, we beseech thee, his dis- 
order to proceed, and let not this sickness be unto 
death, but for the manifestation of thy grace toward 
us all. Thou knowest, Lord, his frame ; lay no 
more upon him than thou wilt enable him to bear 
with patience and quietness of mind. And, O thou 
great Physician, without whom all others are of no 
value, do thou direct to the most proper medicines, 
and bless the art of healing to his body, and our 
great comfort. In thy due time, restore thy servant 
to health and strength again, that he may have a 
longer day of grace and salvation, prove more useful, 
and do more good in his generation. In the mean 
time, however thou shall think fit to dispose of him, 
O sanctify unto him this affliction ; work in him 
deep humiliation for his sin ; bless him with repent- 
ance unto life ; enable him by faith to behold the 
Lamb of God, and to trust in the fountain opened 
in his blood for the remission of sins ; that, being 
justified through faith, he may have peace with God 






FOR A SICK PERSON. 133 

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Make all his bed in 
his sickness, and let patience have its perfect work 
in his soul. Raise him up to praise thy name, to 
pay those vows he makes in trouble before the as- 
sembly of thy saints, and to walk in newness of life. 
But if thou dost not see fit to spare thy servant, 
whom we are now remembering before thee, O pre- 
pare every one of this family, according to our seve- 
ral relations, for the awful stroke. With respect to 
himself, if the time of his departure draweth nigh, 
O let his heart be comforted by thy promises in 
Christ, and taste that thou art gracious unto him. 
May his soul be safe and happy at the hour of death ; 
and, in the great day of the Lord Jesus Christ, may 
he be found amongst those who died in him. 

And help us all who are now in health, to improve 
this loud and solemn call to prepare for our own sick- 
ness and death. Let us not abuse our bodily strength 
to encourage ourselves in a sinful security and im- 
penitence. Give us always to be ready, by perform- 
ing the will of the Lord, that whensoever he shall 
come, we may be found of him in peace, and enter 
into his joy ; that whenever our health is turned into 
sickness, and our strength into weakness, and our 
ease into sharp pain, we may not be cast down or 
perplexed, but feel in our souls those supports and 
consolations which the world cannot give, nor death 
itself take away. 

Hear us, O Lord our God, in these our humble 
requests : forgive us our sins ; and accept our per- 
sons and our services through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
-Amen. 

12 



134 FAMILY PRAYERS. 



RECOVERY OF A SICK MEMBER. 

Most gracious and holy, good and merciful, God ! 
we have heard, we have experienced thy love. 
Blessed, forever blessed be thy name, that instead of 
being known to us by the judgments our sins have 
deserved, thou art manifested to us as a God willing 
to forgive all our iniquities. Thou hast delivered 
our eyes from tears, and our hearts from anguish. 
Thy servant, whom thou hast lately afflicted, is now 
a monument of thy sparing mercy. Thou hast 
chastened and corrected him [or her] but thou hast 
not deliverd him over unto death. Thou, Lord, hast 
turned our mourning into joy, and our fears into 
songs of praise. 

O may this thy servant, whom thou hast spared, 
love thee more, and walk more .exactly before thee 
in the land of the living. We beseech thee, perfect 
all that concerns his recovery : and grant that this 
gracious interposition may properly affect both him 
and every one of us in this family. From hence- 
forth may we all more entirely depend upon thee for 
the continuance and preservation of our dearest earth- 
ly comforts ; may we consider them as thy free gifts, 
O Lord, and know that thou alone, makest every 
earthly blessing be to us what it is. And give us 
grace so to use and enjoy all our temporal comforts, 
as those who know the fashion of this world passeth 
away. Grant we may learn, from this late affliction 
in our family, to live more like persons who are soon 



RECOVERY OF A SICK MEMBER. 135 

to be separated by death, and to give all diligence to 
grow rich towards God, that we may be better pre- 
pared for a breach in our family whenever it shall 
come. And whomsoever of us, O God, thou shalt 
be pleased to call away first, may we be ready to 
obey the summons ; and though parted for a season 
here, be joined again in heaven, and be all of us for 
ever with the Lord and with one another. 

That we may none of us fall short of so glorious 
an end, O grant us a clear knowledge of the excel- 
lency of our God, and a firmer dependence upon the 
word of thy grace. Grant us a stronger love to the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and a greater resemblance of him ; 
that each of us in our particular station may be 
zealous for God, full of mercy and justice towards 
men, and possess every temper whereby God can be 
glorified in us. 

Fill our minds with a more cheerful and lively 
sense of our obligations to thee, especially for this 
late additional mercy : write it, we beseech thee, on 
our hearts, so that no temptation from without, or 
corruption from within, may make us ever act as if 
we forgot it. 

And now, O Lord, we again present both ourselves 
and family, all we have and all we are, a lively sac- 
rifice unto thee for all our remaining days. Be with 
us when we are passing through the valley of the sha- 
dow of death ; may we then fear no evil, nor have 
cause to fear any. Guard us through the gloomy 
passage, and bring us safe to thine eternal kingdom 
and glory. We humbly ask all these blessings, 



136 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

though utterly unworthy ourselves of any notice, in 
the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who ever lives 
to make intercession for us. Amen. 



FOR THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

All praise be given unto thee, O God, our heaven- 
ly Father, for this holy day, in which we imitate 
the company in heaven, whilst we assemble in thy 
courts on earth. 

Instead of rejecting us for our pride and wilful ig- 
norance and forgetfulness of thee, thou hast set apart 
thy day to teach us the knowledge of thy name, and 
of our own condition. Thou hast commanded us to 
make public confession of our sins, and thy perfect 
hatred of them ; of our manifold disobedience, and 
thy amazing forbearance ; of our depravity, and per- 
petual need of thy grace. Thou hast commanded 
us thus to abase ourselves before thee, lest a proud, 
self-sufficient spirit should destroy us. Thou hast 
commanded us to make intercession for all men, 
that our hearts may be enlarged in love towards 
them, and our hands ready to minister to their ne- 
cessities. Thou hast sent thy word unto us for re- 
proof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, to 
make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is 
in Christ Jesus. And thou hast required us to give 
thee thanks in the great congregation, in order that 



ON PARTAKING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 137 

our hearts may be filled with gratitude to thee for 
all thy benefits. O how amiable on these accounts, 
Lord God of hosts, are thy houses in our land ! We 
especially adore thy goodness, in passing over the 
provocations and insults we have so often repeated, 
by rushing into thy house in pride, hypocrisy, and 
contempt of thy salvation. Instead of cutting us 
off in this most dreadful state, thou hast been pleas- 
ed to lay it all open to our view. Therefore we now 
on our knees, implore of thee every disposition of 
heart, which can make us acceptable worshipers. O 
our God, send forth light and truth, forcibly to im- 
press us with the great importance of the work we 
have to do. Shield us from all distractions. Whilst 
we confess our sins, fill us with deep self-abasement 
and godly sorrow. Give us to ask in full assurance 
of receiving the things we need, pardon, righteous- 
ness, and strength, from thy love in Christ Jesus. 
Accompany thy oracles, and the preaching of thy 
word, with the power of the Holy Ghost, that we 
may be more diligent to follow the examples set be- 
fore us ; that thy judgments and threatenings against 
transgressors may deter us from walking after the 
flesh, and the fashion of this world. O that, by 
hearing thy gospel, we may clearly perceive and 
gladly embrace the great salvation it proclaims, and 
be careful to observe and do whatsoever our Lord 
commands. 

In obedience to thy command, our Saviour and our 
God, we now come to eat of that bread, and drink of 
that cup, which is designed to set thee forth mani- 
12* 



138 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

festly crucified before our eyes. O teach us, that we 
may come with knowledge of the nature and infinite 
value of thy sacrifice. May we feel our poverty and 
defilement, and draw nigh with a true heart, utterly 
rejecting every other way of salvation men naturally 
trust in, and placing all our hopes on thy blood to 
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We would come 
with unfeigned love, designing to make a full surren- 
der of ourselves to thee, thou Lord over all, and head 
of the church. Thou wast pleased to forgive the wo- 
man who was an infamous sinner, and bid her go in 
peace. Thou didst declare the publican justified. 
Thou didst put away the sin of Peter, who denied 
thee with oaths and curses. Thou didst take up the 
crucified thief immediately into glory, upon turning 
to thee for mercy. Bless us also, O Lord ; for- 
give our transgressions, as thou didst theirs. In this 
feast lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, 
that we may know that we are justified by thy blood, 
and shall be certainly preserved and saved by thy 
life, in the presence of our God forever. When 
the outward and visible signs of thy meritorious 
death are put in our hands, may we, by a true faith, 
eat thy flesh, and drink thy blood, sc as to find it 
meat indeed and drink indeed unto our souls, so that 
we may dwell in thee, and thou in us ; that we may 
know we have eternal life, and that thou wilt raise us 
up at the last day. 

May thy love for our souls, stronger than death, 
unite us all in love to each other, as members alike 
of thy body, the church. Whilst we are all looking 



ON ACCOUNT OF BEREAVEMENT. 139 

upon thee, the just suffering for us unjust, may every 
angry and selfish passion die away. May brotherly 
love reign in our hearts, and be continually exercised 
with delight among us all. And all the time we so- 
journ in the flesh, give us, by the power of thy 
grace, to keep the feast upon thee our passover sac- 
rificed for us, not with the leaven of malice, and 
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincer- 
ity and truth. Grant these requests for the glory of 
thy great name. Amen. 



ON ACCOUNT OF BEREAVEMENT. 

O thou eternal and compassionate God ! help us 
on this affecting and mournful occasion, to raise our 
souls to thee in prayer. We acknowledge, that 
death entered into the world by sin, and so death 
hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. 
Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and 
full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and 
is cut down ; he fleeth also as a shadow, and con- 
tinueth not. Thou hast determined his days, and 
the number of his months is with thee. Thou hast 
appointed his bounds that he cannot pass. Thou 
turnest man to destruction ; and sayest, return, ye 
children of men. Thou earnest them away as with 
a flood ; they are as a sleep, in the morning they are 
like grass which groweth up. In the morning it 



140 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

flourisheth, and groweth up ; in the evening it is 
cut down and withereth. For we are consumed 
in thy wrath ; we spend our years as a tale that is 
told. 

In thy righteous providence, thou hast commis- 
sioned death to enter this family, and remove one of 
its members. O thou God of consolation ! pity us 
in our bereaved and afflicted state. Be our refuge 
and strength, a very present help in trouble. May 
we be still, and know that thou art God, and that the 
Judge of all the earth does right. May we not 
despise the chastening of the Lord ; neither be 
weary of his correction. Sanctify unto us this in- 
stance of bereavement, so that with the Psalmist, 
we may say, We know, O Lord ! that thy judg- 
ments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast 
afflicted us. Lord make us to know our end ; and 
the measure of our days what it is ; that we may 
know how frail we are. Suitably may we reflect 
upon the vanity and uncertainty of human life, and 
all things earthly. Let the solemn providence of 
mortality in our family, impress our minds with 
deep concern to be also ready. In the death of 
others, may we see as in a glass, our own mortality. 
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply 
our hearts unto wisdom. May we humble ourselves 
under thy mighty hand, and cast all our care upon 
thee who carest for us. May we exercise at all 
times the highest confidence in God, and with holy 
Job, say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. 
May we remember that the Lord doth not afflict 



ON ACCOUNT OF BEREAVEMENT. 141 

willingly, nor grieve the children of men. But, like 
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
them that fear him. — (If the deceased person was 
pious, then pray :) Fill our hearts with gratitude, that 
in the death we mourn, we are called to sorrow not 
even as others, which have no hope, and that we 
have reason to believe, that our deceased friend and 
relative died in the Lord, and is blessed in him. 
(If the deceased person was a child, then pray ;) 
Sanctify this providence unto those of us, who were 
the parents of the deceased. May we be dumb and 
open not our mouths, because thou didst it. And 
may we be enabled to feel and say with submissive 
Job, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, 
blessed be the name of the Lord. — May we always 
be ready and watching for the approach of the Son 
of Man ; for blessed are those servants whom their 
Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. And 
may we ever remember, that life at the longest is 
short, and that soon we must lie down in the cold 
and silent tomb, there to repose until waked by the 
trump of the archangel, when all the dead shall arise. 
With the apostles, may we know, that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a 
building of God, a house not made with hands, eter- 
nal in the heavens. And when we shall be called to 
resign ourselves into the cold arms of death, help us 
to commend our departing spirit into the hands of 
our Almighty Redeemer, saying, as did dying Ste- 
phen, Lord Jesus receive our spirit, and may we go 
to be forever with the Lord. Amen. 



142 FAMILY PRAYERS, 



THE LORD'S PRAYER, PARAPHRASED. 

Most merciful and gracious God, we, thy sinful, 
dependent creatures, in the name and words of our 
Saviour, Christ, look unto thee in prayer, as 

Our Father, who art in heaven, exalted above all 
worlds, and invisible to mortal eyes ; who humblest 
thyself to behold the things that are in the earth : 
who so lovedst the world as to give thine only Son, 
that through faith in him we may be heirs of eternal 
life. We adore thee, O Lord, for that unspeakable 
love, which, through him, thou hast bestowed upon 
us, that we should be called the sons of God ; and, 
because sons, heirs of God and joint heirs with 
Christ; and, by the spirit of adoption, are permitted 
to cry, Abba, to thee, as unto a reconciled Father. 
In his name, and through his merits, we rejoice to 
say, 

Hallowed be thy name. May we truly sanctify k 
and reverence the Lord God in our hearts and our 
lives ; and may all the earth keep silence before thee. 
To thee may every knee bow, and every tongue 
confess thy name, as that of the only true and liv- 
ing God. May the nations of the earth, with angels 
and archangels, and all the company of heaven, laud 
and magnify thy glorious name. May a thankful 
sense of thy boundless goodness continually swell 
our notes of praise. As thou, who hast called us to 
a knowledge of thy grace, art holy ; so may we be 
holy in all manner of conversation ; as it is written, 



THE LORD'S PRAYER, PARAPHRASED. 143 



Be ye holy, for I am holy. May thy name be hal- 
lowed for thy glorious attributes ; for thy righteous 
providence, and for the redemption of mankind in 
Jesus Christ. Ever adored be thy name, that thou 
canst be just, and yet justify those who have sinned 
against thee ; and that our hopes are raised from sor- 
row, sin and death, to life immortal. 

Thy kingdom come. May the truth of thy blessed 
gospel be established in every heart, and the King 
whom thou hast set on thy holy hill of Zion, be by 
all acknowledged as both Lord and Christ. May 
there be added daily to thy church such as shall be 
saved. Grant that the ministers of thy gospel, and 
thy word spoken by their mouth, may be instru- 
mental, through the mighty power of the Holy Ghost, 
in the conversion of souls, till the King of saints shall 
have the utmost parts of the earth for his possession. 
O hasten on those glorious days of the Redeemer's 
kingdom, w T hen the mountain of the Lord's house 
shall be established in the top of the mountains, and 
be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow 
unto it : when wars and strifes shall cease, and the 
earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea. 

Thy will be done on earth , as it is in heaven. We 
pray, that through the power of thy grace, all who 
name the name of Christ may depart from iniquity, 
and hold the true faith in unity of spirit, in the bond 
of peace, and in righteousness of life. Be gracious 
unto thy church, and grant that every member of it 
may truly love and serve thee. May all divisions 



144 FAMILY PRAYERS. 

and discords cease. As the blessed angels in heaven, 
and the spirits of just men made perfect, unite in 
love and praise, so may thy people here on earth be 
joined together in one heart and one mind, striving 
together for the faith of the gospel, and endeavoring 
to be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. 
Help us to follow the example of Christ's humility, 
patience and love, till we come, in the unity of the 
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, 
unto the perfect man ; unto the measure of the full- 
ness of Christ. 

Give us this day our daily bread. Do thou, O 
Lord, who knowest our wants and our dependence, 
give to us and to our brethren what is needful and 
convenient, and give us grace with thankful hearts 
to receive and rightly to use it. Make us contented 
with what thy goodness shall bestow ; and may we 
desire, above all earthly things, that our souls may 
be fed with the bread of life — with the heavenly 
manna of thy word and doctrine. 

Forgive us our trespasses. We have erred and 
strayed from thy righteous ways, and have followed 
the evil devices of our own hearts. Do thou, the 
God of mercy, forgive our sins ; sanctify our hearts, 
and renew a right spirit within us. We beseech 
thee, O Lord, to blot out our transgressions, 

As we forgive those who trespass against us. If 
there be any who injure us, or wish us evil, give us 
grace, O Lord, truly to forgive them; and, as far as 
in us lies, to evercome evil with good. May the 
spirit of meekness which was in our blessed Saviour 



THE LORD'S PRAYER, PARAPHRASED 



145 



be in us ; may we forgive, as we hope to be forgiven, 
knowing that vengeance is thine, and that thou wilt 
judge the world in righteousness. 

Lead us not into temptation. Such is the frailty 
of our nature, that without thee we cannot but fall. 
Keep us, we beseech thee, both outwardly in our 
bodies, and inwardly in our souls ; defend us from 
adversity, and preserve us from all temptation to sin. 
Give us wisdom and grace to avoid that which will 
entice us to transgress thy holy laws. In times of 
peril suffer us not to fall into sin. 

But deliver us from evil. When, for the trial of 
our steadfastness, or for other purposes of thy provi- 
dence, we are exposed to temptation, mercifully look 
upon our infirmities, and in all such dangers stretch 
forth thy hand to help and defend us. Grant that 
we may never be tempted above what we are made 
able to withstand ; but that through thy grace, a 
way may be opened to escape the snare. 

For these great blessings we look unto thee, our 
heavenly Father, through the merits and mediation 
of thy blessed Son ; 

For thine is the kingdom of the whole world, both 
of nature and grace, and the power to support us in 
trial, and to save us with an everlasting salvation. 
And to thee only, as thy just due, be ascribed all the 
glory forever and ever. Amen. 



13 



SELECT PSALMS AND HYMNS, 

ADAPTED TO FAMILY DEVOTION. 



HYMN 1. C. M. Braintree. 

Sabbath Morning. 

1 Lord ! in the morning thou shalt hear 
My voice ascending high ; 

To thee will I direct my prayer, 
To thee lift up mine eye. 

2 Up to the hills, where Christ is gone 
To plead for all his saints, 

Presenting, at his Father's throne, 
Our songs and our complaints. 

3 Thou art a God, before whose sight 
The wicked shall not stand : 

Sinners shall ne'er be thy delight, 
Nor dwell at thy right hand. 

4 But to thy house, will I resort, 
To taste thy mercies there ; 

I will frequent thy holy court, 
And worship in thy fear. 

6 O, may thy Spirit guide my feet, 

In ways of righteousness, 
Make every path of duty straight 

And plain before my face. Watts. 



148 SELECT PSALMS 

HYMN 2. L. M. Portugal 

Sabbath Evening. Heb. 4 : 9. 

1 Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord ! we love, 
But there's a nobler rest above ; 

To that our lab'ring souls aspire, 
With ardent pangs of strong desire. 

2 No more fatigue, no more distress, 
Nor sin, nor hell, shall reach the place, 
No groans to mingle with the songs, 
Which warble from immortal tongues. 

3 No rude alarms of raging foes ; 
No cares to break the long repose ; 
No midnight shade, no clouded sun, 
But sacred, high, eternal noon. 

4 O, long expected day! begin ; 
Dawn on these realms of woe and sin ; 
Fain would we leave this weary road, 

And sleep in death, to rest with God. Doddridge. 



HYMN 3. C. M. Peterborough 

Morning. 

1 Once more, my soul ! the rising day 
Salutes thy waking eyes ; 

Once more, my voice ! thy tribute pay 
To him that rules the skies. 

2 Night unto night his name repeats, 
The day renews the sound, 

Wide as the heav'ns on which he sits, 
To turn the seasons round. 

3 'Tis he supports my mortal frame, 
My tongue shall speak his praise, 

My sins would rouse his wrath to flame, 
And yet his wrath delays. 



AND HYMNS. 



149 



4 A thousand wretched souls are fled 
Since the last setting sun ; 

And yet thou length'nest out my thread, 
And yet my moments run. 

5 Dear God ! let all my hours be thine, 
Whilst I enjoy the light ; 

Then shall my sun in smiles decline, 
And bring a pleasant night. 



Watts, 



HYMN 4. L. M. All Saints. 

Evening. 

1 Thus far the Lord has led me on, 
Thus far his power prolongs my days; 
And every evening shall make known 
Some fresh memorial of his grace. 

2 Much of my time has run to waste, 
And, I perhaps am near my home, 
But he forgives my follies past, 

And gives me strength for days to come. 

3 I lay my body down to sleep ; 
Peace is the pillow for my head, 
While well appointed angels keep 
Their watchful stations round my bed. 

4 Thus when the night of death shall come, 
My flesh shall rest beneath the ground ; 
And wait thy voice to rouse my tomb, 

With sweet salvation in the sound. Watts. 



HYMN 5. 7s. PleyeVs Hymn. 
Morning. 
1 Now the shades of night are gone ; 
Now the morning light is come ; 

13* 



150 SELECT PSALMS 

Lord ! may we be thine to-day, 
Drive the shades of sin away. 

2 Fill our souls with heavenly light, 
Banish doubt, and cleanse our sight ; 
In thy service, Lord, to-day,' 

Help us labor, help us pray. 

3 Keep our haughty passions bound ; 
Save us from our foes around ; 
Going out, and coming in, 

Keep us safe from every sin. 

4 When our work of life is past, 
O, receive us then at last : 

^ Night of sin will be no more, 

When we reach the heavenly shore. 



HYMN 6. S. M. Watchman, 

Evening. 

1 The day is past and gone, 
The evening shades appear ; 

O, may we all remember well, 
The night of death draws near. 

2 We lay our garments by, 
Upon our beds to rest ; 

So death will soon disrobe us all 
Of what we here possess. 

3 Lord ! keep us safe this night, 
Secure from all our fears ; 

May angels guard us while we sleep, 
Till morning light appears. 

4 And, if we early rise 
And view the unwearied sun, 

May we set out to win the prize, 
And after glory run. 



AND HYMJVS, 



151 



5 And when our days are past, 
And we from time remove, 
O, may we in thy bosom rest, 
The bosom of thy love. Anon. 



HYMN 7. 7s. PleyeVs Hymn. 
Saturday Evening. 
1 Safely through another week, 

God has brought us on our way ; 
Let us now a blessing seek, 

On th' approaching Sabbath day : 
Day of all the week the best, 
Emblem of eternal rest. 



2 Mercies, multiplied each hour, 
Through the week, our praise demand ; 

Guarded by Almighty Pow'r, 
Fed and guided by his hand ; 

Though ungrateful we have been, 
Only made returns of sin. 

3 While we pray for pard'ning grace, 
Through the dear Redeemer's name, 

Show thy reconciled face, 

Take away our sin and shame. 
From our worldly cares set free, 
May we rest this night with thee. 

4 When the morn shall bid us rise, 
May we feel thy presence near ! 

May thy glory meet our eyes, 
When we in thy house appear ! 
There afford us, Lord ! a taste, 
Of our everlasting feast. 

5 May the Gospel's joyful sound, 
Conquer sinners, comfort saints, 



152 SELECT PSALMS 

Make the fruits of grace abound, 
Bring relief for all complaints. 
Thus may all our Sabbaths prove, 
Till we join the church above. Newton. 



HYMN 8. L. M. Old Hundred. 

The Star of Bethlehem. 

1 When marshall'd on the mighty plain 
The glit'ring host bestud the sky ; 

One star alone, of all the train, 

Can fix the sinner's wandering eye. 

2 Hark ! Hark ! to God the chorus breaks, 
From ev'ry host from ev'ry gem ; 

But one alone the Saviour speaks, 
It is the Star of Bethlehem. 

3 Once on the raging seas I rode, 

The storm was loud, — the night was dark, 
The ocean yawn'd — and rudely blow'd 
The wind that toss'd my found'ring bark. 

4 Deep horror then my vitals froze, 
Death-struck, I ceas'd the tide to stem ; 

When suddenly a star arose, 
It was the Star of Bethlehem. 

5 It was my guide, my light, my all, 
It bade my dark forebodings cease ; 

And through the storm and dangers thrall, 
It led me to the port of peace. 

6 Now safely moor'd — my perils o'er, 
I'll sing, first in night's diadem, 

Forever, and forever more, 
The Star ! The Star of Bethlehem ! H. R. White. 



AND HYMNS, 



153 



HYMN 9. C. M. Dedham. 
Fountain Opened. Zech. 13. I. 

1 There is a fountain fill'd with blood, 
Drawn from Emmanuel's veins: 

And sinners, plung'd beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains. 

2 The dying thief rejoic'd to see 
That fountain in his day ; 

And there have I, as vile as he, 
Wash'd all my sins away. 

3 Dear dying Lamb ! thy precious blood 
Shall never lose its pow'r, 

Till all the ransom'd church of God 
Be sav'd to sin no more. 

4 E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream, 
Thy flowing wounds supply, 

Redeeming love has been my theme, 
And shall be till I die. 

5 Then in a nobler, sweeter song 
I'll sing thy pow'r to save ; 

When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue, 

Lies silent in the grave. Newton. 



HYMN 10. C. M. St. Martin's. 

Holy fortitude ; or, the Christian Soldier. 

1 Am I a soldier of the cross ? 
A follower of the Lamb ? 

And shall I fear to own his cause ? 
Or blush to speak his name ? 

2 Must I be carry'd to the skies, 
On flow'ry beds of ease 1 

Whilst others fought to win the prize, 
And sail'd thro' bloody seas 1 



154 SELECT PSALMS 

3 Are there no foes for me to face 1 
Must I not stem the flood ? 

Is this vile world a friend to grace, 
To help me on to God 1 

4 Sure I must fight, if I would reign ; 
Increase my courage, Lord ; 

I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, 
Supported by thy word. 

5 Thy saints, in all this glorious war, 
Shall conquer, tho' they die ; 

They view the triumph from afar, 
And seize it with their eye. 

6 When that illustrious day shall rise, 
And all thy armies shine, 

In robes of vict'ry thro' the skies — 

The glory shall be thine. Watts. 



HYMN II. 8s. 7s. & 4s. Greenville. 

Prayer to the God of Christians. 

1 Holy Father, great Creator, 

Source of mercy, love, and peace, 
Deign to bless thy sinful creatures, 

Through the Saviour's righteousness ; 

Heavenly Father, 
Through the Saviour, hear and bless. 

2 Holy Jesus, Lord of glory, 

Whom angelic hosts proclaim, 
Be with us, who, here before thee, 
Meet and worship in thy name. 

Dear Redeemer, 
In our hearts thy peace proclaim. 

3 Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, 

Come with unction from above, 



AND HYMNS. 



155 



Touch our hearts with sacred fire ; 
Fill them with the Saviour's love ; 

Source of comfort, 
Cheer us with the Saviour's love. 

4 God the Lord, through every nation, 
Let thy wondrous mercies shine ; 
In the song of thy salvation, 

Every tongue with rapture join. 

Great Jehovah, 
Form our hearts, and make them thine, 



HYMN 12. 8s. 7s. & 4s. Tamworth. 

God, the Pilgrim's Guide. 

[ Guide me, O thou great Jehovah ! 
Pilgrim through this barren land ; 
I am weak, but thou art mighty, 
Hold me with thy powerful hand : 
Bread of heaven ! 
Feed me till I want no more. 



2 Open, Lord ! the crystal fountain, 

"Whence the healing streams do flow ; 
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar, 

Lead me all my journey through : 
Strong Deliv'rer ! 
Be thou still my strength and shield. 

3 When I tread the verge of Jordan, 

Bid my anxious fears subside ; 
Death of death, and hell's destruction. 
Land me safe on Canaan's side : 
Songs of praises 



I will ever give to thee. 



Robinson, 



156 SELECT PSALMS AND HYMNS. 

HYMN 13. C. M. Plympton. 

The vanity of Man as mortal. Ps. xxxix. 4 — 7. 

1 Teach me tlie measure of my days, 

Thou Maker of my frame ; 
I would survey life's narrow space, 
And learn how frail I am. 

2 A span is all that we can boast, 

An inch or two of time; 
Man is but vanity and dust, 
In all his flower and prime. 

3 Some walk in honor's gaudy show ; 

Some dig for golden ore; 
They toil for heirs they know not who, 
And straight are seen no more. 

4 What should I wish, or wait for then, 

From creatures, earth, and dust 1 
They make our expectations vain, 
And disappoint our trust. 

o Now I forbid my carnal hope, 

My fond desires recall ; 

I give my mortal interest up, 

And make my God my all. Watts. 



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